About a month before his team reported to spring training this year, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sat on the balcony of an upscale restaurant near his offseason home in San Diego, recounting his journey from franchise scapegoat to championship leader.
asserted
Roberts → report → leader
The more Roberts spoke about his professional evolution, the more it became clear that he wasn’t just explaining who he was a manager at that moment.
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he → speak → moment
He was envisioning the manager he would become.
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he → envision → manager
“At 53,” Roberts said, “I feel I’m just scratching the surface.”
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I → say → surface
His theory is about to be tested.
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theory → test → ?
The Dodgers have a loaded starting rotation.
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Dodgers → have → rotation
They have an experienced but inconsistent lineup.
asserted
They → have → lineup
They have a hodgepodge of a bullpen.
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They → have → bullpen
And they have another X-factor in Roberts, who ranks third all-time in playoff wins as a manager with 59.
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who → have → 59
No other manager in this postseason field has won more than 26.
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manager → win → 26
With the Dodgers reaching the playoffs in each of their 11 seasons under him, Roberts has already managed 117 postseason games.
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Roberts → reach → games
The experience has resulted in a change in how he sees October games.
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he → result → games
“It’s slowed down,” Roberts said.
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Roberts → slow → ?
As the games unfold, he can better predict what will happen next.
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what → unfold → ?
When making decisions, he doesn’t feel rushed.
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he → make → decisions
The Dodgers have an all-world rotation that includes Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow.
asserted
that → have → Yamamoto
They have two relievers they trust at the back of their bullpen in Tanner Scott and Roki Sasaki.
asserted
they → have → Scott
The question Roberts will have to face on most nights will be how to manage the innings that aren’t pitched by the starter, Scott or Sasaki.
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that → have → starter
When the Dodgers had a weak bullpen last year, Roberts’ approach was relatively straightforward: Ride the starters as long as possible, turn to them whenever possible.
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approach → have → them
Dodgers starters pitched into the seventh inning or beyond seven times last postseason.
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starters → pitch → inning
Yamamoto pitched two complete games.
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Yamamoto → pitch → games
Snell made an eight-inning start.
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Snell → make → start
Three of the team’s four starters were used as relievers at some point, and the other, Shohei Ohtani, started Game 7 of the World Series on three-days’ rest.
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other → use → rest
Yamamoto pitched the final 2 ⅔ innings of that game – a day after pitching six innings in a Game 6 win.
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Yamamoto → pitch → win
But what the rotation did last year was historic and the counting on the group to do that again
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did → count → that
The advantage the Dodgers have this year is that their bullpen has more upside than it did last October, which should provide Roberts with a greater number of middle relief options.
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which → have → options
But every option carries significant risk.
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option → carry → risk
Displaced $69-million closer Edwin Diaz had a nightmare of a regular season.
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Diaz → displace → season
Edgardo Henriquez is the hardest thrower on the team – and probably the most improved as well – but he missed the end of the regular season with a back injury.
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he → improve → injury
Fireman Alex Vesia posted his highest walk rate in five years.
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Vesia → post → years
Evan Phillips has looked like a ninth-inning possibility on some nights but has been home-run prone.
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Phillips → look → nights
Converted starter Justin Wrobleski was an All-Star but had a rough second half of the season.
asserted
Wrobleski → convert → season
Roberts will be counted on to navigate the middle innings of this group, which could also include the left-handed Scott if a particularly dangerous group of left-handed hitters is due up at a critical juncture.
uncertain
group → count → juncture
Whatever happens, the situation shouldn’t be nearly as complicated as it was during the Dodgers’ World Series run in 2024.
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it → happen → 2024
The Dodgers went into that postseason with only three viable starting pitchers – Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was in his first year in the majors and limited to 90 regular-season innings because of shoulder problems; Jack Flaherty, a trade-deadline acquisition who posted a 4.99 earned-run average the previous year; and Walker Buehler, who registered a 5.38 ERA in his first season back from Tommy John surgery.
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who → go → surgery
Roberts had to rely on his bullpen.
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Roberts → have → bullpen
The limited number of starting pitchers forced the Dodgers into a bullpen game at least once in every series.
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number → force → series
He was forced to punt certain games to preserve the little pitching he had for the future.
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he → force → future
As chaotic as it looked from the outside, Roberts said he was clear-headed.
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he → look → outside
“I couldn’t have said that in ‘16, ‘17, ‘18,” he said.
asserted
he → say → ‘
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
