	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: CUBS VS DODGERS

October 14, 2017

Dave Roberts

Los Angeles, California - postgame 1

Dodgers - 5, Cubs - 2

Q. Joe mentioned those two walks were a real key in terms of tiring out Quintana in that inning before Puig doubled. How big were those?
DAVE ROBERTS: They were big. And even from the beginning, from the first pitch I thought our at-bat quality was very good. Yeah, those walks got him in the end. But you look at what J.T. did his first two at-bats against him. I think he saw 18 pitches, and even though we got behind in some counts, continued to grind, win pitches and tried to get that pitch count up even though we didn't have anything to show for it early. But we just kind of continued to grind those at-bats and fortunately we broke through.

Q. For so many years people have wanted to restrict Yasiel's emotion. He's playing with so much emotion right now. How much is emotion making an impact on the way he's been playing?
DAVE ROBERTS: It's impacting everyone. And I think that it's great when he can play with such emotion and focus as well. He loves the big stage, and his only focus is helping us continue to win baseball games. So right now he's playing at a high level, and not only the fans, but his teammates are feeding off of it.

Q. It seems that whomever decided to move Maeda to the bullpen is looking pretty smart right now. I think he got three outs on four pitches tonight. You must be terribly pleased with how he's doing coming out of the bullpen on short relief.
DAVE ROBERTS: Kenta's doing a great job. And we saw a little bit of it this summer, and the stuff really played up. I think the credit goes to Kenta as far as buying in and understanding that every out in the postseason is important. So when he gets his opportunity, he's been light's out.

So, yeah, it's great. I know he's got a ton of confidence, but, again, all the credit goes to Kenta for buying into that role and also when he gets in there to compete and execute.

Q. You talked the other day about being more aggressive and maybe pulling Kershaw if the opportunity arose. My question is if his spot hadn't come up in the fifth inning, were you considering taking him out at that point?
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, yeah. Obviously the spot came up. He was around up near 90 pitches, and I probably had him going out there for Rizzo and then going to have Kenta get the three righties after that.

Q. You talked prior to the game about liking Charlie Culberson against lefties. How gratifying was it to see him come through in a couple big spots against left-handers?
DAVE ROBERTS: It was great. That sac fly he got there to score that second run was huge. He got behind 0-2 and dug a breaking ball out and lifted it to left field. That was a huge run for us. And I think it was big for his confidence, and to get another hit later, a leg double was great.

So, yeah, we trust Charlie. He's a part of what we're doing right now, and he's a heck of a baseball player.

Q. Talk about Chris Taylor and not letting the moment get too big but yet coming through in a big moment.
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, he's done it all year for us. I think that C.T. is one of many guys that are just winning players. He just carries himself well, doesn't get too high, doesn't get too low. People use that word "poise" a lot, but he has poise. And in big spots, he has the ability to zone in and swing at strikes and take balls. So he's done that all year for us.

So to get that big homer to right center really didn't surprise us. Just another thing to add to his special season.

Q. Technically what has he done a little bit different this year? How has he tailored his swing?
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, that's a long conversation. I think that this past winter he really took to a swing change, so mechanically changed some things up and really allowed him to get the velocity and still lay off breaking balls down in the dirt. So he hits righties well, lefties well. So now you take the swing change and the head that he has, the good head, the compete that he has, that's a pretty good Major League ballplayer.

Q. You talked about Chris Taylor a little bit here. Obviously you know how important he's been for you guys. Do you feel he's flown under the radar in terms of maybe how other people have seen him, considering Cody's big year and all these other guys?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think maybe nationally, but I think the people in our division that we see 18, 19 times a year know how talented he is and how much he makes us go. Especially in our clubhouse, we understand his value. But I think that he just wants to play baseball, so I don't think that that really concerns him.

But we have a long list of, I think, unsung heroes.

Q. What was your vantage point on the play at the plate, and what was your understanding as to why the call went your way?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think it was a heck of a throw by Kyle out there in left field. Contreras made a great play, athletic play. But as the rule states, he was in violation. I looked at it just like everyone looked at it, and as the rule states, he was in violation. So it was pretty clear to us, so that's kind of pretty simple.

Q. Was there any thought of letting Kershaw bat for himself in the fifth? I know you've talked about not wanting to burden him as much as you guys have in the past. But with the bullpen pitching as well as it has, how much easier was that decision?
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, the bullpen, the bullpen having to -- to be able to go to the pen and having the confidence in him was a huge driver, but you still have a chance to tack on another run. And Kyle's put forth good at-bats for us since he's been up, so to have Cingrani to get Rizzo and take another chance to get another point on the board, I thought it was the right move.

Q. I know you talked about this before, but when Yasiel plays like this, we always think about how much he's grown in ways off the field as far as being a teammate, as far as interacting with the group and harnessing some things on the field, what's your level of satisfaction with that over the past few months?
DAVE ROBERTS: I don't know if I can really -- it would take too long to say -- personally from mine and his relationship, how much it's evolved and grown and the trust with his teammates and his care for his teammates and the Dodgers, and just solely to win, to play well to win and help us win baseball games. But he's really -- I mean, exponential strides, and he's obviously a huge part of what we're doing now going forward, and I couldn't be more proud.

Q. I asked Joe this question, but we're talking about players and roles who weren't even part of the NLCS last year. How does this series feel different from last year's NLCS?
DAVE ROBERTS: Well, it's two different ballclubs. There are some similar players, but I think that the season we had versus the season they had last year, I think that you could parallel those two, and the confidence we have in our group and they had in their group last year. So I think there are some similarities, but I really can't speak to them. I just know that this year we're a very focused group, very confident group.

We know we have a lot of work to do, and we'll be ready for tomorrow night.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297