Dodgers Interview: Friedman Talks Roki, Assesses Team Going into NLDS
“Pitch with confidence, execute, and I’ll bet on our guys.”
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers closed out Cincinnati with a professional 8–4 win, and the front office tone matched the clubhouse. President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman sounded steady, specific, and optimistic. He talked about leverage roles, execution in the bullpen, and why the rotation can carry weight in October. He also tipped his cap to the staff that helped get key arms synced up at the right time.
“We used Roki Sasaki two out of three and he rebounded,” Friedman said. “Beyond that, we don’t know how much we’ll need him. He’s really talented, gets out righties and lefties, so obviously it really helps the bullpen as a whole get on a run. I don’t think our bullpen struggles are talent. It’s execution. We see it with walking guys and getting behind in the count.”
For Friedman, the fix is as much mindset as mechanics. “To me it’s about pitching with confidence, trusting the scouting report, and executing pitches,” he said. “If that happens, I’ll bet on our guys. If we’re trying to be too fine and afraid of mistakes and we’re out of the zone and starting counts 2–0, then I won’t bet on that.”
Sasaki arrived with a sizable support group, and the Dodgers took a patient approach to blending routines. “Like any new player you acquire, it takes a little while to build up trust and we didn’t try to push it too early,” Friedman said. “We knew he was accustomed to doing things a certain way and we were going to embrace that, while forging a relationship and getting to a place where we could partner together, but not pushing it prematurely.”
That partnership showed up on the mound after some midseason turbulence. “His delivery had gotten out of whack compensating for the oblique injury, and then it led to some shoulder soreness,” he said. “Getting him feeling right and syncing up his body again was really important, and he was all in on doing that. Mark Prior and Rob Hill have done an unbelievable job with him, and the way he worked coming back made for a really devastating combo to get it back to what we saw tonight.”
Friedman also credited the strength team for adding a little extra edge while Sasaki was ramping. “He’s got a really good routine with Travis Smith, and the time he missed actually allowed him to take on even more load, not having to recover to pitch,” he said. “So yeah, he’s definitely got [more]” — the point was clear: the base is stronger now than it was.
Big picture, the club’s surge has hardly surprised the president. After back-to-back walk-off losses in Baltimore, his club is 17 and 5. “We’re a really good team,”he said with a small shrug. “so for us to rattle off 17 out of 22 is not surprising. Our offense, our rotation, and again, it’s been a couple guys in the ‘pen over a certain period. At the same time we’ve been breaking in a new catcher, which adds challenges. He’s not familiar with our guys, we have setups and things that are different, and it’s a different visual for the pitcher. We had some challenges from a health perspective and a new catcher learning a lot of new pitchers. We’re getting better at that. Usually you have all of spring training to work through it. We didn’t have that in this instance, and it made for some complications, but we’re getting through it.”
As the conversation turned to the Division Series, Friedman leaned into the strength up front. “I feel really good about our rotation,” he said. “You could argue whatever order you want. They’re all really talented. I know Sho [Ohtani] will revel being in that environment and pitching in Game One. We have a really talented rotation and I think it’s going to be a strength for us as we go forward.”
Philadelphia is next. The tone stays the same. “Every team you play in October, it’s hard,” Friedman said. “There’s a lot of things that happen in the course of a game and a series. We put our head down and focus on whoever we’re playing. Philly’s obviously a really good team. They got to sit back and watch us play these two games because they earned a bye. They’re a really good team and we look forward to the matchup.”
One last note on workload as the calendar turns. Asked if certain starters could stretch a touch more now, Friedman kept it straightforward. “I just think he’s a normal starting pitcher now,” he said of the progression. “Kind of easing along and just a normal starting pitcher.”
Clear message from the top: trust the prep, trust the stuff, and throw strike one. “Pitch with confidence, trust the scouting report, and execute,” Friedman said. “If that happens, I’ll bet on our guys.”
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