Dodgers Interview: Skipper zeroes in on trust with his Japanese superstars
CAMELBACK RANCH, AZ– Dave Roberts knows spring training schedules are always a little messy, and then the World Baseball Classic shows up and makes them even messier. The Dodgers opened camp at Camelback Ranch on Thursday with the usual physicals and early throwing, but Roberts didn’t take long to get to the big complication on his board: Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani are on a different clock because Japan has games that matter in March.
“Yamamoto is sort of going to be on an island given his early ramp up throwing to hitters and all that kind of stuff ahead of where the other guys would be,” Roberts said. “Sho looks fantastic. So he’ll be ready for the for the WBC. But yeah, those guys will certainly be accelerated versus everyone else.”
The first question is always what it looks like in the Cactus League. Will fans actually see Yamamoto in a game before he leaves? Roberts didn’t give a firm answer, but he did explain where Yamamoto is in the early days.
“He’s going to be throwing to hitters here in the next couple days,” Roberts said. “So I think that I got to talk to Mark Prior and figure out exactly what that looks like as he builds it out. So I can’t speak to that right now.”
The other piece is timing. When exactly does Yamamoto leave camp? Roberts said that part is still uncertain on the Dodgers’ end.
“I don’t know when he’s going to be leaving us to be going to join Team Japan,” he said. “So all that matters and I’m not sure exactly right now.”
Right now, Roberts’ mindset on Yamamoto pitching in the tournament was pretty clear. Once the decision is made, he’s not going to spend March hand wringing or wishing their ace would take it easy. He’s going to support the choice and focus on the two things every team wants from a WBC pitcher: performance and health.
“For me, I’m okay with, you know, once we all came to the decision that he’s going to play and participate, I’m just rooting for him to pitch well and stay healthy,” Roberts said. “We’ve already kind of came to that decision. So, I’m excited for him.”
That “we’ve already come to that decision” line matters because it draws a boundary. The Dodgers can plan around it. Yamamoto can ramp up with a purpose. And Roberts can treat the tournament like what it is for these guys: a major stage, not a side project.
Ohtani is different, and Roberts didn’t hide that either. He praised how Ohtani looks right now, and he also emphasized the organization’s approach: Ohtani’s build is about what’s best for him, and they’re not forcing the pitching timetable just because Japan is playing.
“Sho looks fantastic,” Roberts said, and later, when asked directly about Ohtani pitching in the WBC, Roberts’ answer was still no.
“No,” Roberts simply said, when asked if Ohtani would be pitching in the tournament.
Could that change? Roberts left the door open in the most technical way possible, but his expectation sounded steady.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I mean, I think anything’s possible, but I think that, you know, he…we’re all mindful of what’s the best for him personally, and slowly build up.”
Roberts also made a point that Dodgers fans in Los Angeles sometimes forget because we see Ohtani through the daily grind of 162. For Japan, just having him with the team is a big deal. Roberts called it a win even if Ohtani isn’t taking the ball.
“I think him being a part of Team Japan in any capacity is a big win,” Roberts said. “And he wants to do that for his country.”
The Dodgers’ WBC presence isn’t just Yamamoto and Ohtani, either. Roberts confirmed other key names are already in camp as well, which is the kind of detail that gets overlooked in February until suddenly you’re watching March games with a lot of Dodgers fingerprints.
“The other WBC guys, Diaz, Kim, Will, are they all here already too?” a reporter asked.
“They are all here,” Roberts said.
He doesn’t seem eager to over-manage Yamamoto, which is notable because pitchers with huge expectations usually come with a lot of organizational nerves. Roberts talked about trust, and he also referenced how Yamamoto handled himself last year with the Dodgers’ staff.
“First off, we trust him. I trust him,” Roberts said. “I will say that he let me and the training staff manage him last year.”
Roberts described it as a partnership where Yamamoto wants to keep pitching, but the Dodgers have found a rhythm on when to push and when to back off.
“He always wants to and feels that he needs to keep pitching, which is great,” Roberts said. “But I do think that we’ve kind of got a rhythm where we know when to push him, when to pull back, and taking in his whole workload. That’s still front of mind for all of us.”
It’s a very Dodgers way to frame it: trust the player, trust the process, and stay focused on the big goal. Even with the WBC pulling attention in two directions, Roberts sounded comfortable with the idea that the best version of Yamamoto and Ohtani comes from letting them prepare with purpose, and letting the calendar be what it is.
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