NL DIVISION SERIES: GIANTS VS DODGERS

October 9, 2021

Dave Roberts

Oracle Park

Los Angeles Dodgers

Pregame 2 Press Conference

Q. Today you decided to go with Cody Bellinger at first base. What led to that decision with having him there instead of in the outfield?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think just finding a way to get Chris Taylor in there. Certainly you give up a little bit of center field defense. And so I just, that was kind of the genesis behind it. I wanted to get CT in the lineup.

Q. And last night of course Giants pitching was fantastic. But what are you seeing from the offense in the postseason? I know it's only been two games, but from this little small snippet what is kind of standing out to you about the offense?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, I think, yeah, it's just two games. I think last night in particular we were just slow in reacting as far as changing game planning and understanding what Logan was trying to do to us. So that's kind of, you've got to be able to read and react.

As far as tonight, we're familiar with Gausman. It's fastball, high velocity. It's a split change and there's a breaking ball in there that we can't be surprised that he might go to more tonight. So I think it's just really trying to get him up in the zone because when he's at the knees and down, it doesn't bode well for the offense. So he's got to make pitches and we got to kind of be able to stay in the strike zone.

Q. You talked about one change in your lineup, obviously the option to go with Gavin over AJ. What made you stick with AJ today?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think -- well, there's a body of work component. I think that Gavin swung the ball really well and picked us up big for two weeks. There's also a component of what the season AJ's had and the experience that he's had. So to kind of just default to a two-week sample, I just don't -- yeah, I just felt that the body of work should win out.

And it also, just as important for me is being able to deploy Gavin and Matt Beaty in particular tonight at a given moment I think has value as well.

Q. Obviously you have been down this road before. Obviously you don't want to go down 0-2, but since you've been in that position as a player with the Red Sox and you guys went down 0-3 and you came back to win, do you use that experience to kind of keep the players loose especially in a pivotal game like tonight?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think every Club is different. So this is certainly a different Club than I played on years ago. So it's a smart group. It's a professional group. We understand the job that we have to do. We've been there before. So to your earlier point, yeah, we don't want to go down 0-2, so we're going to play this game essentially like a do or die because I think it's really, it's an important game.

So but as far as kind of the morale, it's a very focused group of guys right now.

Q. Mookie's been dealing with the right hip all season long. Where is it at this point of season, /is it a daily check-in with him? Is he still managing it to the point that he was earlier in the season?

DAVE ROBERTS: I don't know if it's a, if he's managing it -- I'm sure he's doing something each day to kind of manage it, but there's no check-in daily. He's one of our guys and he's got to be out there. And he feels the exact same way.

Q. Muncy beats up on the Giants more than any other team and his absence, like you said, is a void. But they have Belt gone, so both top first basemen out. Do you think that's a wash? Or is it not so much because Muncy --

DAVE ROBERTS: I can't, I mean, I think, I guess if you look at it in a vacuum, it's probably a wash, but I can't speak for those guys, but it is what it is. We don't have Max on our Club and we got to still go out there and win a series.

So I don't put too much weight or thought into it. I don't. We have 26 guys on the roster that I believe we can win, and so that just, it is what it is.

Q. How is he coming along?

DAVE ROBERTS: He's coming along. He's getting a little bit of more range of motion each day. It will be great to have him back sooner than later, but it ain't going to be this series. So that's kind of where our head's at.

Q. We went through this with the Wild Card game, but I'll ask you again philosophically. Five game series. It's the only sport that does that. Is that fair? Does that make sense to you?

DAVE ROBERTS: If you like money, probably not, because a couple more games would be good. But I think it's better than one (laughing), better than three. So I guess it's just kind of, it's where we're at, and I think that for us, I love the long series and it kind of shows the true kind of overall depth and talent.

But right now me thinking otherwise isn't going to be helpful, so...

Q. These two teams obviously know each other by being Division rivals. You've played them 19 times. But in addition to that, you have Gabe Kapler and Farhan, guys who were in your organization, know you guys very well. Is there a game within the game kind of a chess match between the front offices and guys knowing each other like that, and then does that make the margin of error that much more thin when you guys are playing?

DAVE ROBERTS: There is. I think sometimes a familiarity could kind of back fire if you kind of think they might do something or, as opposed to kind of using the guys you have and putting them in the best positions to have success and go play a baseball game. I think that a lot of our similarity is, as far as Kap and I, is trying to instill confidence and positivity in your players and put them in the best chance to succeed. And I think Andrew and Farhan do a great job of putting together Major League rosters. Outside of that, it's kind of the coaches and the managers kind of figuring out in-game what's the best way to win that game that night.

Q. Back to Muncy. So when you have an elbow that pops out of the socket like that, it's kind of like Tatís' shoulder kept subluxing. Is there an issue here where unless it's eventually surgically repaired to repair whatever ligament damage or whatever it was that allowed that to happen, has to happen, or what's the long range on this?

DAVE ROBERTS: Well, the long range is, as I understand it now, surgery is not on the table, so it's kind of getting the range of motion, seeing what you can and can't do as far as a baseball player, swinging of the bat, catch the ball.

And then it's tolerance. So you kind of brought up Tatís and there was time that he had to heal up and at some point he said, I can do this.

And so with Max we're just going to keep it alive and keep his head in the space that he can help us if we continue to move forward and that's kind of how we're taking it. Long-term, I don't think that surgery's imminent.

Q. You brought up being familiar with Gausman and obviously brought up his splitter. How do you find success against that kind of pitch especially after a night where Webb was able to keep you guys off-balance with his off-speed?

DAVE ROBERTS: It's a thing in hitting, it's called tunneling. You just got to see it up. And if you're swinging at things at the knees, you're in trouble. You just got to see the ball up. And so that's kind of the great thing about guys that can tunnel well, that's what makes guys good pitchers.

And conversely, as a hitter, if you can get your right tunnel or lane, it gives you a better chance.

Q. Cody's talked a lot about the swing changes he's been making recently. Just kind of where do you see him in that process right now and when you're kind of evaluating some of the things he's doing at the plate now, like what are you looking for that are the keys that let you know that he's feeling good or making progress there?

DAVE ROBERTS: For me it's not even about the swing mechanics right now. It's about approach and executing a plan and getting him in the zone. If we're going to swing at balls down below, it doesn't matter what kind of mechanics you have. So for me I'm looking for guys to use a big part of the field and take good at-bats. That's it.