Dodgers Interview: Doc keeps watchful eye on WBC participants

LOS ANGELES — Dave Roberts showed up to Camelback Ranch on Thursday and, even in that first-day back rhythm, he sounded like a manager who knows he’s got to play the long game. The Dodgers are coming off another deep run, the offseason felt short again, and Roberts is already signaling that spring training is going to look a little different for a lot of his veterans because of three letters: WBC.

“It does change the ramping up process,” Roberts said, when asked about the quick turnaround and an older roster. “I don’t know what it looks like for each individual, whether it’s pitching, whether it’s a younger player that’s been around, a veteran position player, for example, Freddy Freeman. What that it’s going to be individualized.”

That word, individualized, is a tell. Roberts spoke about pacing guys who have played a ton of meaningful baseball lately, and using the full runway of camp to get them ready without forcing anything early.

“I do think that I’m prepared to use all six weeks to get guys up to speed and ready,” he said. “And I will say that it’s fair to say that it’s going to be a slower ramp up for most guys, because of the last two seasons that we’ve had to endure.”

The Dodgers are in a weird position that only a handful of teams understand: you want to be sharp for Opening Day, but you also know what the last two years have demanded physically and mentally. Roberts framed it like reality, not complaint. The team won, the team played a ton of extra games, and now the job is to bring the roster along without pretending it’s just another normal February.

At the same time, spring isn’t happening in a vacuum this year. The World Baseball Classic is sitting right in the middle of March, and Roberts pointed out how that pulls the Dodgers in two directions at once. Most of the team will be building slowly, but the WBC group has its own calendar.

“Yamamoto is sort of going to be on an island given his early ramp up throwing to hitters and all that kind of stuff ahead of where the other guys would be,” Roberts said. “Sho looks fantastic. So he’ll be ready for the WBC. But yeah, those guys will certainly be accelerated versus everyone else.”

That creates a spring training vibe where “early” doesn’t mean the same thing for everybody. Some guys will still be stretching out, getting their timing, getting their legs. Meanwhile, a handful of Dodgers will be close to game speed sooner than the rest of the room because they’ve got meaningful games coming up that aren’t in Glendale.

“We’ll probably see them in kind of those early Cactus League games before they go,” Roberts said of those WBC-bound players. There are several Dodgers headed for various locales for WBC before long: Ohtani and Yamamoto, Hyeseong Kim, Edwin Diaz, Will Smith. That’s a big hunk of the lineup.

The ripple effect of the WBC doesn’t stop with the stars, either. Roberts hinted it’s going to change how he uses the roster in exhibition games. If you’re short a few regulars at different points, somebody has to soak up innings and at-bats. That’s where the kids come in.

“With the WBC, I’m going to run those guys out there more than they probably would in a regular spring training,” Roberts said. “Our prospects that are in camp for the most part, this is their second camp, some third that they’ve been around longer and more often, so I feel more comfortable running them out there.”

That’s a pretty interesting spring training recipe: slow ramp for the established core, a faster ramp for the WBC guys, and more real exposure for prospects because the Dodgers will need bodies, reps, and information. Roberts also likes the idea of prospects being around the everyday veterans, not separated into some backfield world of their own.

“I do want them to be around our starters to kind of see what it feels like to be with, you know, our starters out there on the same,” Roberts said. “Share the same feel.”

And if you’re wondering what “getting information” looks like when a manager is looking at a camp with so many known quantities, Roberts basically said the big job is readiness. He knows the players. He knows most of the roles. Spring is about building up the team without leaving anybody behind.

“I know enough about the guys that have been around,” he said. “I think 90% of it is getting guys ready for the season, and even the young prospects, younger players getting ready for their seasons.”

In other words: no panic, no rushing, and no pretending the last two years didn’t take a toll. Roberts is going to use the full six weeks, and he’s going to let different players move at different speeds. For a team with October expectations again, it’s a very Dodgers way to handle February: patient, planned, and always aimed at being strongest when it matters.

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