Dodgers Interview: Roberts Walks Media Through his Thinking on Lineup Changes
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers shuffled the deck before Game Five. Dave Roberts explained why, speaking like a manager who knows a home win can tilt the whole week. He was clear about the aim: find early traffic, feed the top of the order, and let the batting order breathe again.
“I think that was the thought,” Roberts said of moving pieces around. “Getting Alex [Call] in there at the bottom, the at-bat quality, seeing pitches, the potential to get somebody on base for Sho at the top. I feel good with Kiké in center field and Alex’s defense in left. As for Mookie and Will, I feel that’s the best way to win the game tonight. Both players were alerted and both players are on board. That was a decision I made.”
Asked if the Mookie-Will flip was about protecting Ohtani, he kept it simple. “It’s whatever I felt is the best chance to win today,” he said.
Roberts walked through what he has seen from Mookie lately. “There’s a little bit of mechanics and there’s also they’re making good pitches,” he said. “He’s working hard to clean some things up. Yesterday he lined a ball and Clement was there on the line, got a base hit, so for me it’s just taking four or five good at-bats. All I’m concerned about is tonight and I know that’s what’s on Mookie’s mind too.”
Why make a bolder move now after staying steady all summer. “In the postseason you’ve got to be a little more reactive than the regular season,” Roberts said. “When I netted out the value of what gives us the best chance to win today, that was the decision I made. You’ve got to be a little more proactive than I normally would.”
Tommy Edman’s ankle and the outfield mix were part of that calculus. “Tommy’s ankle is not all the way there. He could do it, which he did in Game Three, but I feel like Alex versus Yesavage is going to take some really good at-bats,” Roberts said.
The manager circled back to approach against Toronto’s starter. “At-bat quality is not just pitches,” he said. “It’s hitting mistakes. The first time through the at-bat quality was good as far as gathering information, but two times through there were a lot of pitches we missed. That takes away from at-bat quality. We’ve seen him. We’re prepared. Now it’s nine guys coming together, being ready to hunt mistakes, and when you get a mistake be ready to do something with it. It’s not just Sho. It’s not Freddie. It’s all nine guys doing their jobs.”
Is anyone pressing to join Ohtani and Freeman as prime run producers. “I hope not,” Roberts said. “Some of the chase we’ve had is uncharacteristic and that speaks to that. We have a talented group. We’ve got to hunt our pitches, our lanes, and avoid that uncharacteristic chase down below.”
Experience helps him keep the room steady. “I’m relaxed, but I’m focused,” he said. “Anxious to get going. With the experience we’ve had and I’ve had, that’s part of it.”
He also talked about culture and why players want to be here. “Andrew said it best, trying to make Los Angeles, the Dodgers, a destination place where players want to come and play,” Roberts said. “You’ve got to convince the wives and feel comfortable with the kids around at times. I think we do as good a job as anybody at making people feel welcome and be themselves. That’s definitely part of the calculus.”
The intentional walk question came back around after the Ohtani parade on Monday. “I understand it,” Roberts said. “On the biased side I’d say I wish we could outlaw that because it would benefit the Dodgers. In totality it’s still a strategy and it’s not applicable to every team that’s not the Dodgers. It’s hard to make a rule based on the World Series and not pitching to Sho. I’m trying to be nonbiased, but there is strategy to it.”
Where is the line between proactive and overthinking. “There is such a thing as overthinking it,” he said. “I’m more of the mind to bet on my guys and bet on them to play good baseball and win two more games. With that, you’ve got to make decisions with enough information and I feel I’ve done that today.”
The stage is big, the moment at home is bigger. Roberts did not dress it up. “It’s huge,” he said. “It’s a three-game series. To win that first one is big and obviously it’s at home. Coming off losing last night, I’m going to leave it out there. Our players are going to leave it all out there to win tonight. Then whatever happens, we’ll pick up the pieces and get on a plane to Toronto. They’re all big to me.”
He addressed Ohtani’s availability later in the week and kept options open. “I haven’t talked to Sho yet, but he won’t be available tonight,” Roberts said. “We’ll see where he comes in beyond that. When you’re talking about Game Six and potential Game Seven of the World Series, all hands on deck. If he can go and it makes sense, he would be an option.”
And the man of the hour on Wednesday, Blake Snell. “It’s easy to expect him to be markedly better than he was in Game One,” Roberts said. “He’ll never make an excuse for the layoff. That’s just the circumstance we were in. I expect him to be much better with the fastball and the changeup today.”
He finished where he started, back to the choices that shaped tonight’s card. “I feel that’s the best way to win the game tonight,” Roberts said. “Both players were alerted. Both players are on board.”
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