Dodgers Interview: Roberts Does Triage on Team after Marathon Win

LOS ANGELES — Dodger Stadium woke up smiling on Tuesday. The city got its classic, the Dodgers took a 2–1 lead, and now Shohei Ohtani has the ball for Game Four. Dave Roberts sounded steady about all of it. He praised the heroes from the 18-inning marathon, mapped out how he’ll navigate another long night if needed, and kept most of his focus on the people who carried them here.

The first question told you everything about the previous game: is Will Klein available? Roberts grinned and answered, “I would say he’s down today. What a performance.” He lingered on Klein later, calling him “a great young man” who once “wasn’t really a strike-thrower,” then credited the pitching coaches for “cleaning up the delivery,” getting him “in the hitting zone,” and helping him “work on a slider.” As Roberts put it, you don’t truly know a reliever “until you throw somebody in the fire and see how they respond,” and “it was just really good to see how he responded last night.”

Ohtani’s status drew quick attention too after the late cramps. Roberts said the two-way star “feels good today,” and explained the plan as simple as it gets: “we’re just going to read and react. No expectations, just kind of see how he feels, how he looks, and then go from there.” Given the innings both bullpens wore, Roberts also framed the night as “an all hands on deck situation,” where you “figure out who’s available and who feels good enough to pitch.”

There was an eye-opening what-if from Game Three. Asked how close he was to a position player on the mound, Roberts said, “if Roki or if Yamamoto couldn’t have taken the ball in the 19th, it was probably going to be Miguel Rojas.” He noted Blake Snell had thrown a bullpen earlier and Ohtani “wasn’t gonna pitch,” which left the staff down to extreme options in a tie game. He laughed at the absurdity of it when someone circled back: “Absolutely,” he said when asked if, a month ago, he’d have assumed he was “under the influence of one of those sleep aids” to even consider such a choice.

The conversation kept circling to game management after such a long night. Would Roberts support a postseason ghost runner after living through 18 innings? “No,” he said. “It’s baseball in its truest form.” He described the tug of strategy in extras, where “it’s hard once you get into the extra innings to not play for one swing,” acknowledged “both teams certainly doing” exactly that, and still came back to his preference: “I do like the way it is.” As for saving arms by banning day-before bullpens just in case a marathon appears, Roberts shook that off too: “You can’t plan for 18 innings. You got to plan for what’s certain and [Snell’s] start is certain.”

The bullpen map for Game Four will be built in real time. Roberts said the choices come down to “managing a plus game” versus “managing a lower leverage game,” all “contingent on who’s available.” He added, “if we have a chance to win tonight, we’re going to put the best guys capable to do that and pick up the pieces.”

Center field stirred a familiar question. Tommy Edman finished Game Three out there; could he start there? Roberts said, “I’m not saying it’s 0% chance,” explaining the late move was “kind of where we were at” to “keep guys in there.” He also defended Andy Pages: “I did think that Andy still took some good at-bats. He’s having a hard time having anything to show for it, but the defense is still good and I still feel the fight, the compete. When he gets good pitches, he’s just got to find a way to finish it. But I’m not there yet.”

On Ohtani, Roberts talked as a manager who has learned the rhythms of a rare player. He called it “trust,” said it’s “getting to know the person, the player, and you know what his limitations are.” He admitted Ohtani “was not going to come out of the game” in that moment Monday, but added that “if later on in the game, if there was a run-scoring situation, I potentially would have taken him out.” The calculus included lineup flow: “I didn’t want to take him out… for fear that his spot was going to come up again, which it ended up coming up three or four times.” Physically, Roberts said Ohtani “is in great shape, very well conditioned,” and “I expect him to be ready for today.” He also offered a window into the scale of what Ohtani handles: “you’re talking about two people… two people in one,” who carry “crazy expectations,” and must “have the body and mind work together” to perform “at the highest level with all eyes on him.” His conclusion was simple: “I just don’t think there’s a comparable if you’re talking about one human being.”

If teams keep walking Ohtani, what does that do to Mookie Betts behind him? Roberts said Mookie “is very matter of fact” and “understanding the game and the strategy behind it.” In Roberts’ telling, Betts even said, “I can’t blame them, he would do the same thing.” The manager likes the edge that creates: “there’s a certain competitor that comes out… you want to make the other team pay for that decision,” and he added, “I’m going to keep betting on Mookie hitting behind Sho, and if they keep giving him opportunities I know he’s going to come through.”

Will Smith’s workload came up because he caught all 18 innings. Roberts texted him in the morning and got a classic reply: “He said he felt great, which I would expect.” The manager admitted he “was trying to hold as long as I could,” especially once the Blue Jays were “just left-handed” late and “were going to run lower.” He had “a couple guys ready and Ben was ready,” but preferred to keep Smith in until the spot forced his hand. The hand that was fractured earlier this year? “I haven’t heard anything… in a couple weeks,” Roberts said, and while “I’m sure it’s not 100%,” the bigger concern after the marathon is simply the mileage from “yesterday’s 18 innings.”

There was a lighter moment about recovery, too. Asked how he personally came down from the adrenaline, Roberts said, “I took a little sleep aid to get off my high and woke up with clarity, freshness, and excited to go tonight.”

The last word touched the clubhouse as a whole. What has this series taught him? Roberts said the lesson is to “believe in your players,” then hope the preparation shows up “in big spots.” He pointed to the kids and the depth arms by name, saying “you don’t know what you don’t until you know,” and that “until guys get in the fire, you don’t know about a guy.” After Game Three, he does. Emmet Sheehan. Justin Wrobleski. Edgardo Henriquez. Will Klein. And Smith, who never came out from behind the plate.

So that is Tuesday: a room that got its sleep, a manager who trusts his eyes, and Ohtani taking the ball with the series leaning toward Los Angeles. The outcome of Tuesday’s game will go a long way in telling fans just how long of a series to expect.

Have you subscribed to the Bleed Los Podcast YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows & promotions, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!