Dodgers Interview: Doc on what he needs to see from his hitters on Saturday

TORONTO — The Dodgers woke up in Toronto needing a cleaner night at the plate and a calmer sixth inning than the one that flipped Game 1. Before Game 2, Dave Roberts kept the focus tight: better at-bats in leverage, trust the rotation, and match the Blue Jays’ early-count aggression without drifting from the zone. He liked parts of the opener. He also saw where it slipped.

“I thought first time through we were fantastic,” Roberts said. “Tonight’s going to be a similar test as far as pitcher and then I felt the second time around we fell off as far as quality of at-bat.” He spelled out the difference. “Being aggressive early, but then the ability to win pitches as we get deeper in the count. If you look at early-count hitting, they were better last night. And with two strikes, winning pitches late, fouling pitches off, they were better. That’s the tale of the two offenses.”

The tone in the room wasn’t doom. “Today is a different day,” he said. “The psyche, the mentality, the mindset is good from our guys.” With Kevin Gausman on the hill for Toronto, Roberts framed it as a like-for-like challenge. “I do feel good in the sense that it’s a similar type of profile with Gausman versus Yesavage last night.”

He was asked about Max Scherzer, slated for Game 3. Roberts smiled at an old memory. “Max is one of one, a great competitor,” he said. “Don’t want to touch him during outings, don’t want to pat him on the backside. He wants to be the guy. He’s very smart. He’s a baseball player first, then a pitcher.” The prep is its own show. “It’s very focused, very intentional. He does a lot of his own homework. He asks a lot of questions, a lot of it from the hitters’ perspective.”

Shohei Ohtani heard boos in Game 1. Roberts shrugged off any ripple effect. “I don’t think he understood the chants,” he said. “As far as being booed, I think he understands why. I don’t think he minds it. I don’t think it necessarily fuels his fire. He’s just a really good compartmentalizer. He’s there to do his job.”

Lineup-wise, Andy Pages stayed in center with defense in mind. “He has struggled this postseason,” Roberts said of Pages’ bat. “What I need from him is to have quality at-bats, to be able to get on base, to win 3-2 pitches. He’s playing very sound defense, which is a big part of why he’s in there. I have contemplated other decisions. I’m keeping a close eye on it, but I still need to see some kind of uptick in consistency.” Tommy Edman staying at second limits some juggling. “Part of Tommy’s value is his versatility,” Roberts said. “With the ankle, it was made clear to me that second base is the best way to keep him on the field and healthy. To not have the ability to kick him to the outfield has minimized some of that versatility.”

Big picture on the bats, Roberts didn’t paper over anything. “I’m not going to just look at last night,” he said. “In totality in the postseason, I think that we can be better. We have done a nice job at times of building innings, but when it comes down to winning a pitch, getting a base hit, hitting the ball the other way, taking a walk, we haven’t been great situationally. My hope is that once we create stress, we can finish off innings.”

Game 1 can serve as a wake-up call, not a verdict. “These guys aren’t going to go away,” he said of Toronto. “They’re very confident. It’s a very talented team. Whether you get a two-run lead, you’ve got to continue to tack on. You’ve got to get to the pen and you’ve got to beat those guys up and keep building on innings.”

As for the plan on the mound, Roberts confirmed the road map. “Tyler [Glasnow] will throw Game 3 and then Sho will go Game 4.” For Game 2, he likes how Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s toolbox matches the opponent’s profile. “It’s a cat and mouse,” Roberts said. “That’s an aggressive hitting team early in the count. If you can, you have a risk-reward to get quick outs versus taking on early-count damage. Yamamoto has a lot of ways to access the hitting zone and the counts. How he does that is going to be hitter to hitter.”

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