Dodgers Interview: Rortvedt on Big Night on Offense and Behind the Plate
LOS ANGELES — Ben Rortvedt spent most of Wednesday night locked in with Blake Snell, and when it was over—seven shutout innings, 12 strikeouts, a 5–0 win—he sounded like a catcher who’d just ridden shotgun on a joyride. Asked how impressive Snell was, Rortvedt didn’t bother with flourish. “So good. So good,” he said, before getting into the specifics of a two-time Cy Young winner operating at full command. “He’s caught him twice now, so not long, but he has four really good pitches and he fills his zone up with it. Commands the fast really well, works in and out on um both handedness extremely well. Um just glad I went to face him.”
The swing-and-miss told its own story, but from the catcher’s view it wasn’t just raw stuff; it was sequencing and strike-throwing that cornered the Phillies into defensive swings. “If you’re landing your pitches in the zone, you got to respect it, you know, um he’s slowing people. He’s speeding them up, slowing them down, landing stuff in the zone, not giving in in hitters count,” Rortvedt explained. “So, um it’s it’s really impressive.” The plan—pound strikes, change eye levels, toggle speeds—played like a loop all night, each at-bat a version of the same pressure: get ahead, stay unpredictable, finish.
That approach faced its loudest test in the seventh, when two walks brought Dave Roberts to the top step and Rortvedt could be seen motioning that Snell was fine. The catcher’s confidence never wavered. “Yeah, stuff is so sharp, especially in that point in the game. I mean, stuff was as good as it was,” he said. “Um, I think he just didn’t want to give into those two hitters. Um, those hitters counts kind of trying to get in the way of those zone. Um, and then, yeah, he wanted the ball, which is awesome to see. And obviously, you guys saw the big punch out.” That final strikeout to close the frame capped Snell’s seventh and crystallized the night: conviction from the dugout, conviction from the mound, and the catcher’s trust stitching it together.
Rortvedt raved about the pitch shapes that make Snell such a brutal solve. “His curve ball so effective. Comes from the rafters,” he said, painting the picture of a ball that drops in late and steep. “I mean, his his fast ball is taking off like a jet and his his curveball is is spin spins the crap out of it. So yeah, it’s it’s really hard to kind of get your sights on those two when you when you’re landing them both.” When Snell is dotting with carry four-seamers and parachuting curves, the slider and changeup become daggers pointed from either side of the plate, and Rortvedt’s description matched what the Phillies kept showing: late swings, frozen takes, and a lot of trudging back to the dugout.
The Dodgers didn’t need a crooked number to make it stand up, but the offense did its part with patient, situational work. From the other batter’s box, Rortvedt tipped his cap to the opposing starter’s arsenal. “Uh yeah, I mean Lazardo has really plus stuff. I mean, he got me more times than I got him tonight,” he said. “Um you got to respect 98 um the sinker. Um and then I mean his slider is throwing it up to 88 now. So just trying to get some over the plate. Um, which guy I got there? Two strikes and just have them poke it out there.” For the Dodgers’ nine-hole, the plan was simple: shrink the zone, scrap for contact, and hand the inning back to the top.
If the night belonged to Snell, the postscript belonged to a bullpen trying to reset after a rough week. Rortvedt backed Tanner Scott to rebound, emphasizing that the stuff remains elite. “Same guy. Tanner stuff is so good,” he said. “I mean, we’ve talked about kind of switches some things up, but I mean, Tanner stuff is has always been sharp. I mean, he’s going to get on a run here. Um, we all believe in well behind him.” Coming from the catcher who’s feeling every late-inning heartbeat, that endorsement matters. The roles don’t get smaller in September; the trust has to get bigger.
Rortvedt’s own contributions have been a quiet thread in this Dodgers push. The glove-first tag still fits, but he’s been chipping in the at-bats that keep innings alive and pitchers breathing. Asked about his approach, he grounded it in identity and lineup function. “Just trying to get back to myself,” he said. “I mean, I’m not someone who’s going to go hit the ball over the fence all the time like like some of these guys in here. I’m I’m bad nine hole. I’m just trying to turn the lineup um around, get on base for for the big boys behind me.” That’s the kind of humility that plays in a clubhouse and the kind of clarity that plays in October: know your job, do it well, repeat.
What stood out, listening to Rortvedt, was the seamless partnership behind the plate. The Dodgers needed this one—needed the series split to feel like more than “what if,” needed a start that stretched deep and a plan that held its shape when the seventh got messy. The catcher’s commentary mapped to all of that: a pitcher in command because he “fills his zone up,” an in-game read that recognized when “he wanted the ball,” and a final exclamation point when “you guys saw the big punch out.” On nights like this, the battery is the story. Rortvedt called it, framed it, and then told it, and the Dodgers walked off the field with the kind of win that travels.
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