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NL DIVISION SERIES: NATIONALS VS DODGERS

October 6, 2019

Dave Roberts

Washington D.C. - pregame 3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Same question I asked Dave Martinez. What's it like to come into Washington DC and be the only place where nobody's talking about impeachment?
DAVE ROBERTS: (Laughter.)

Yeah, that's nice. It's a nice diversion. So certainly it's going to be about baseball tonight in this town, in this ballpark. We have been here in this environment, a lot of passionate fans, and there's going to be a lot of good energy and so how we manage it will, remains to be seen, but I like the guys we're running out there.

Q. Are you in favor of impeachment?
DAVE ROBERTS: Oh, you're killing me. Actually I think you know my -- no, never mind.

Q. Actually, no, all kidding aside. Depending upon, is there a chance that Rich doesn't start tomorrow and that you go with Buehler on short rest depending on the outcome of this game, is there a possibility?
DAVE ROBERTS: No, Rich is going to start tomorrow. We're prepared, Rich is prepared. Obviously Howie kind of managed tomorrow obviously is kind of dictated on today but the plan is to have Rich start tomorrow.

Q. Because you mentioned Rich Hill, what's your appreciation level for his appreciation for where he's at in his career and the experiences he's had in the last couple seasons with your team after being sort of on the fringes of ball for a little bit.
DAVE ROBERTS: It's great. It resonates with a lot of different, a lot of our players and coaches. What he's been through, his story, it's a great story. And I try to impress upon our guys is that nothing's guaranteed and show gratitude with what we have, the opportunities that we have created that are here. So Rich can kind of echo a lot of my thoughts, the successes, the failures, the outside looking in, that kind of stuff. So he's very passionate, very emotional, so there's a lot of ways to describe Rich Hill, but he really cares and he competes like no one else.

Q. Is Kenley an option for you for more than three outs when he's had the amount of rest that he's had going into this game or do you prefer to keep him to winning?
DAVE ROBERTS: With Kenley I do expect to see him tonight, but it will be a three out, winning situation, yeah.

Q. Can you clarify maybe how you see Kenley in these playoffs. I think you spoke to the beat writers and told him that he's still the closer, but you alluded to maybe not using him in save situations.
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, I just think that there's certainly any point in the game there's some big spots where I think to -- right now with the guys that we have available to us in the pen and the trust that I have in these guys, to kind of put them in one role, a tie game in the 8th, if I feel that it makes sense to deploy them, I'll use them. So it doesn't -- those outs are big, when you're talking any inning, but let alone the back end of a game, those are huge outs. So I think to just be open to that I think is a good thing for his mindset and also his willingness, obviously, is certainly helpful. But that's kind of more what I'm thinking.

Q. What's your, what's the biggest thing that concerns you most about facing Scherzer and is there a specific approach that you guys take with it?
DAVE ROBERTS: The thing that obviously that is most concerning is his stuff. It's a three pitch -- it's three plus pitches. He can beat you in the strike zone with three pitches, he can beat you out of the zone. He's relentless. It's just really hard to game plan with a guy that can use, has different weapons to get ahead or put you away. So that's probably, that's why he's one of the best in the game and has been for the last call it five years. So that's probably the thing that scares me and he's a hard guy to prepare for.

Q. Was there any thought to using Jansen in the last game, even though you guys were losing, because of how long it's been, you know?
DAVE ROBERTS: I thought about that. I thought about that and if you look back at the last month we have used him, haven't gone this many days without using him. I just felt that using him then and to potentially have to use him in Games 3 and 4, where there's going to be, there could ultimately be a cost. And so I just felt, in talking to Kenley, that he feels in a good space, physically, mentally, that to kind of take another two days as far as that game and yesterday, to be able to use him twice back-to-back, I just felt better about that.

Q. And also, the two times you faced Sanchez this year, one time you guys did pretty well against him, the other time not so much. What's kind of the key there to that?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think the thing is that the first time I thought we took really good at-bats and got ahead. And he's a guy that doesn't give in and he has trust in his secondary pitches and commanding the baseball.

The second time we had him here and we had him on the ropes in the first inning and we let him off the hook. I think after that I think he went 18, 20 consecutive outs, something like that. He was getting ahead, we couldn't sync up with his cutter, breaking ball, change. So I think that, for us, is to just kind of keep him in the strike zone, and I know that sounds easier than done, but he's a guy that does pitch to the edges and so it's just more being stubborn in our zone and when we are, we're pretty good and when we're not it's tough sledding.

Q. Three years ago you were here in that Game 5 that went to the limit and Clayton relieving Kenley and all that. I know even though you lost the next series, what do you, do you think that series provided any sort of foundation for what this team has become since then?
DAVE ROBERTS: Certainly. I do. And this was my first experience in 2016 in that kind of environment. There's still a lot of guys on this club that were part of that. So to see what was going on in this ballpark and to see how guys handled that situation and responded, I think that certainly built a foundation for this group going forward. Yeah, to see, I think that even Clayton coming out of the pen right there was really good for his confidence, and Kenley, how much we used him at that point in time, but fortunately for us we have had a lot of success in this ballpark.

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