Three-line summary TLDR:
- Blake reflected on his rehab outing, saying he feels good physically but still needs to sharpen his curveball and fastball command.
- He discussed balancing patience with aggression during recovery, noting he sometimes pushed too hard when he felt strong.
- He also expressed excitement to rejoin the Dodgers, praised the stadium and fan support, and emphasized trusting the team’s careful recovery plan.
Reporter: Looked pretty good out there, feeling more like yourself?
Blake: Yeah, I mean I get the curve ball going. Yeah, better in the right direction.
Reporter: Blake, did you throw extra pitches in the pen?
Blake: No. Stayed there. Yeah, I feel good. Yeah, curveball, really got to get that going. Locate the fastball a little better. Yeah, I'll think about it on my drive. But that is where I am at so far, yeah.
Reporter: First, you said essentially about coming out healthy, making sure the pitch mix is working. Do you feel like you'll ramp it back up to more like a game situation for the third start?
Blake: Yeah, I thought I was gonna more patient. But I was definitely a little more aggressive to get it going. I feel really good, so I'm excited about it.
Reporter: We're looking for 60 next week
Blake: I think, yeah, they'll tell me. I know that that is Sunday, I believe.
Reporter: And going OKC?
Blake: Yeah.
Reporter: What do you think about this stadium?
Blake: It's unreal. It's not a low-A stadium. This is AAA at worst, it is nice
Reporter: What about all the Dodger fans that came out to see you?
Blake: Yeah, no. It was cool, I was expecting it. Just because a lot of people are like messaging me about it, so I was fired up they showed support and love. It meant a lot.
Reporter: They played your video before you went out. Do you think that helped you a little bit?
Blake: It might of. I don’t know. Like WTF. I prefer Kendrick. He is a lot better.
Reporter: Blake, you got everybody a $5 beer man, did you ever in your career did you think you're going to accomplish that?
Blake: I've done it before so I wasn't scared to do it again, but I heard it and I was like okay, I'm gonna throw three fastballs. See if you can hit it.
Reporter: So you knew what you were doing?
Blake: Yeah, I ramped it up a little bit.
Reporter: But what other boxes are you checking in as you progress? Do you feel like you can do more?
Blake: Yeah, um… Just consistency. I really got to get the curve ball going. When I get that pitch going, man. It just makes pitching a lot easier. This week, we'll focus on that and I'm really going to focus on commanding the fastball better and to face AAA hitters. I'll need that a lot more.
So that's going to probably be my main focus. On the drive, I have time to myself to really talk and go through it.
Reporter: Are you going to travel with the team?
Blake: That’s the plan, yeah..
Reporter: What has been your biggest takeaway from these rehab starts?
Blake: The first one is about patience.You know, not try to…You want to do good so bad since it's been a while. So the first one, I always say the first two are patience, but I've been feeling really good. So the first one I didn't do too good, so I was pretty upset with that. And then when I got in the bullpen today, I was telling myself I was going to be patient, but then I felt really good and felt like in control. Yeah, it was a little more aggressive to get results.
Reporter: How do you balance that patience with aggression in the rehab process?
Blake: Feel, trust, knowing if it's smart, not smart, how you feel, where you're at. Just really talking to yourself and figuring out how I feel. I felt really good. So I was like, yeah, I'm kind of pushing more, get results, and then end up in the third inning I wanted to see the curve ball get better. That was pretty frustrating for me, so. That was more like, third inning was more about development of the pitch.
Reporter: Being out there again, how badly do you want to be with your team again. I see you, you know, posting on social media, rooting for your guys. How badly do you want to be out there?
Blake: Yeah, I love rooting for them. I love their success. You know, I definitely wanna contribute. I feel like I'm a big part of the team and I want to help badly, so I can't wait.
I want to be patient and make sure I do everything the right way and when it's my time, I'll be ready.
Reporter: Blake last year you had mentioned you might have been pitching through some injuries before the season started. How do you think that came into this season mentality wise?
Blake: Yeah. I mean I came into the season last year. I felt good. I was just rushing because I was so excited. And first year as a Dodger, it's hard not to be excited about it and then I took the rehab process seriously and I was patient with it. When it got to the postseason, that's when I was like, man I got to battle. This is why I came here for the postseason. So that'll do it. That’ll do it every time. And yeah, the offseason was tough.
Reporter: Yeah, and do the Dodgers communicate with you pretty well on saying you better be ready rather than playing Hurt?
Blake: They're taking their time for sure. We gotta get past this. I need to be out there and stay out there. Yeah, we've had good meetings and but they do it the right way. They've been really good with me and it's been tough because I've been wanting to push them. There's a reason why they are the Dodgers; they are really good at everything.
Reporter: Are there any Dodgers that you miss more than others? In the dugout? Any buds?
Blake: Yeah, I mean…All the starting pitchers. Yeah, I love messing with Yama and Sheehan.
For sure, I've been doing a lot of that, but the whole team, I love everybody here.
Reporter: What are you going to say to anyone who has to to come down here in Ontario about this ballpark, the experience.
Blake: It's beautiful. Enjoy it. That's nice. Yeah, no, this is nice really nice.
Reporter: Has any fan tried to negotiate a trade for food?
Blake: Not since Toronto.
Reporter: What would it take to get a ball from you?
Blake: Here? I don't know, I'm going home. So chances are low. I appreciate y'all. Thanks.
