MILWAUKEE — The Dodgers arrived in Milwaukee on Sunday, healthy, rested, and aware of what lies ahead. Manager Dave Roberts spoke with the calm of someone who’s been here before and the clarity of a man who knows the challenge. The Brewers are familiar, but both teams have evolved since July when they last played. Roberts kept his focus on execution and readiness, not storylines.
“They’re similar to what we saw earlier this year,” Roberts said of Milwaukee. “They’re playing really good baseball. Toward the end of the year they kind of scuffled a little bit, but they’re back to playing the way they play.” He paused, then drew the contrast he cared about most. “I think we’re in a much better spot—on the health side, on the position player side, on the pitching side—and we’re playing better. So it should be a great series.”
The rotation order came next. “Blake (Snell)’s going Game 1,” Roberts confirmed. “Yama’s (Yoshinobu Yamamoto) going to start Game 2.” Shohei Ohtani, he added, will pitch “at some point” later in the series. The plan is built around regular rest and flexibility. “Appreciating having four starters in a potential seven-game series,” he said, “you want guys who can pitch twice. That’s kind of the impetus.”
Milwaukee’s bullpen drew plenty of admiration. “They’ve done a great job with drafting, scouting, player development, roster construction,” Roberts said. “You take Murph (manager Pat Murphy) and his staff—they’ve dominated it. The bullpen, they get you with velocity from both sides. They’ve got heavy sinkers, all the different mixes, and they’re not afraid to run those guys out there. We’ve got our work cut out, but as an organization, they’ve done a fantastic job.”
Aggression on the bases is one of the Brewers’ calling cards, and Roberts said his club is ready for it. “We’re definitely mindful of those guys being aggressive,” he said. “We like our guy back there. The catch-and-throw is as good as anyone’s, but a lot of it is on the pitchers—varying looks, holding runners, being mindful. They’re opportunistic for sure.”
Asked how to blunt that style, Roberts didn’t complicate it. “The main thing is to get a lead,” he said. “When you have a lead, their aggression is more tempered. When the wind’s at their back, they’re very aggressive. If you can get a lead and put a little pressure on them, they’ll be more conservative. If not, Murf’s going to be aggressive with hit-and-runs, first-to-thirds, stolen bases, all that.”
He spoke about Roki Sasaki’s growing role with a sense of balance. “Perfect world, one inning,” Roberts said. “There’s a cost to two or three innings on the back side of that. But he’s really helped stabilize the pen with leverage, and we’ve seen good things from our guys recently. Rookie’s been a big part of it.” The rookie phenom, Roberts added, is ready for anything. “Whatever is needed of him, he’ll be ready.”
When asked if Snell was “slow-played” during the season to preserve his arm, Roberts didn’t hesitate. “I think that’s fair,” he said. “Could he have pitched earlier? Possibly. But when you’re talking about the arm and the term of the contract, making sure he’s raring to go through the postseason—that was part of the math. That’s why what Clayton did, and Emmet Sheehan, and the others, it got us here. Now we can turn guys like Tyler (Glasnow) and Blake loose.”
As for Ohtani, pushing his start back had nothing to do with his recent hitting slump. “No, not at all,” Roberts said. “Shohei’s going to pitch one game this series. Then you have two other guys who can pitch on regular rest. How do you get your best pitchers the most innings in a seven-game series? That’s what this is about. I expect a different output from him offensively this series, but the pitching schedule wasn’t tied to that.”
When the conversation turned to the Dodgers’ place in the larger baseball picture—one of only a few franchises that’s been to multiple recent World Series—Roberts smiled. “I think they’re happy to see us,” he said. “People love fresh blood until you see TV ratings. I think they like seeing the Dodgers, whether they’re rooting for us or against us. We’ve got a lot of good players, and I think we do things the right way.”
The Brewers’ contact-heavy approach earned his respect but not his hesitation. “A team that doesn’t punch much, you try to be too fine and you’ll end up throwing eight or nine pitches and not get a strikeout,” Roberts said. “The way to attack these guys is to attack them, then deal with the result earlier in the count versus trying to nibble. When you get count leverage, you go for the punchout at the right time. It’s the same approach we used against the Phillies—different hitters, same mindset.”
He closed by circling back to what makes Milwaukee dangerous. “They’re gritty, they’re tough, they take on Murf’s personality,” Roberts said. “They can slug, they’re athletic, they defend, they pitch. They’ve got complete buy-in, and they’re hungry. Those things are scary. So, yeah, we knew even in spring training they’d be playing deep this year.”
It was typical Dave Roberts—measured, respectful, confident in his group. The message was clear: the Dodgers know what’s coming, and they’re prepared to meet it head-on.
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