Dodgers Interview: Roberts heaps praise on Sheehan, tips hat to Phils’ sluggers
LOS ANGELES — In a game that felt like October from first pitch to the final out, Dave Roberts framed Monday’s 6–5 extra-inning loss to the Phillies as a night of star turns, razor-thin margins, and a young arm proving he belongs on the postseason stage. “Um, I thought it was uh both uh offenses fought um all night,” he began, before steering the conversation where it belonged—Emmet Sheehan’s bulk masterpiece. “Um uh, you know I I thought uh Emmet pitched a heck of a ball game. Um I thought that you know he he was competing all night. Maybe not with his best fast ball. Um I thought the fast ball command was really good. I think his uh probably his velocity overall was down tonight. Um I I thought, you know, he left everything he had tonight.”
Roberts liked the game state when the Dodgers handed the seventh to the bullpen. “I liked where we were at with how we left the game,” he said, noting that the plan—opener to Sheehan—had worked to form. “We just didn’t you know Jack Dreyer had an off night, got behind hitters and then obviously gave into uh you know that nine hitter.” Still, the manager pointed to the counterpunches that followed. “But you know after that I thought offensively Mookie huge hit, Page’s huge hit. I thought you know Alex Call took a great at bat to get us in a good spot but you know you got to give credit to those guys. Those guys had some big hits as well.”
Asked to parse the home runs that swung the night—Kyle Schwarber’s early shot, Weston Wilson’s two-run swing, and Bryce Harper’s eighth-inning dagger—Roberts leaned into pitch-by-pitch context. “You know, um I I thought Banda’s was was a good pitch. I I thought it was maybe a little bit elevated, but it was away and Schwarber, you know, one hand swing hits a homer. Um I thought the Harper ball one two I think the count was and it was a ball above the zone um against Vesia and then the Dryer he just fell behind. He was behind all night and then 2-0, you know throw a fast ball down the middle.” The winning sequence, he added, was classic situational baseball from Philadelphia. “Um so yeah and and you know in that uh 10th inning you know they do a double steel and get into a situational uh situation there and Realmuto puts a good at bat to hit it just deep enough into right field to score the uh winning run.”
The Phillies’ lefty killers often force managers into uncomfortable choices, but Roberts was clear that he trusted the matchups he chose—and the relievers he used. “Um, I think it’s it’s it’s a little bit of Yeah. I mean, I I think that I I still like the guys that we had on them. I wouldn’t say Harper’s better versus left.” When the follow-up pressed the point, he doubled down on conviction and readiness. “Yeah. Yeah. Um I I think that you’re talking about the guys that we really, you know, those guys were rested, ready to go, and we had the I had the guys that I wanted, and um, you know, that doesn’t always work out.”
If the bullpen has been the lingering question down the stretch, Roberts said the process—giving reps, seeing who seizes the moment—won’t change now. “Um, you know, I I you know, it’s just trying to uh, you know, see which guys step up, you know, with opportunities. Um I I thought, you know, Tanner Scott for for example, the last two outings have been very good and um it’s really good to see. Um so, you know, just kind of trying to figure out, you know, who’s going to, like I said, who’s going to seize the opportunity. So, um they’re going to continue to get opportunities and um you know, see how it plays out.”
Would he have preferred to simply start Sheehan given how dominant the right-hander looked? Roberts wouldn’t second-guess the structure that got them to the seventh with a lead. “Um you know, you just don’t know. Um, no. I I I think that that’s I mean obviously in hindsight if I would have known Bryce or uh Schwarbs was going to hit hit a homer. Um, but it did still got us into the seventh inning. Um, and you know, when Emmet came out of the game, we had a we had a two-run lead. So, um, I felt we still prevented runs, you know, up until that point.”
Beyond the tactics, Roberts’ biggest takeaway was how Sheehan answered the moment from an unfamiliar runway. The kid didn’t blink, which matters in September and will matter even more in October. “Yeah, it was good. And Emmet’s a guy that he’s just unfazed by anything. He’s in a he’s in a great spot um for a youngish player. He’s very mature and um very confident.”
Zoom out, and the manager’s postgame read mirrors the game itself: the Dodgers traded blows with an elite club, got a “heck of a ball game” from a young weapon, and found the tying swings when they needed them—Mookie Betts and Andy Pages delivering the “huge hit” answers Roberts highlighted, Alex Call grinding a walk to load the bases in the 10th. The margins—one two-strike ball “above the zone,” one “one hand swing,” one textbook double steal and sac fly—decided it. The process, from a bullpen still sorting its pecking order to a flexible pitching plan built around Sheehan’s length, remains intact.
If Monday was a dress rehearsal for October, Roberts’ message was steady: trust the plan, trust the people, and keep giving the right guys chances until the big moments break your way. Sometimes, even “good” pitches become souvenirs. Sometimes, the other side executes the last small thing. On nights like that, you tip your cap, bank the lessons, and move on to the next playoff-caliber test.
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