NL DIVISION SERIES: PADRES VS DODGERS

October 5, 2024

Dave Roberts

Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers

Pregame 1 Press Conference

Q. When you think about just Game 1 of the NLDS, how excited are you for this match-up, this game? What are you looking forward to seeing from your guys?

DAVE ROBERTS: Very excited. It seems like it's been a while. I think guys are really ready to kind of rip the seams and just kind of get to playing baseball again.

I think, for me, I'm just looking to throw the first punch. I'm expecting a very lively crowd, and I'm expecting us to be ready for a fight. I think that's obviously in the context of playing a baseball game, but that's kind of the mindset I expect from our guys.

Q. You guys have obviously seen Dylan Cease very recently. When you think about just how you want to attack him, what did you like from the quality of at-bats from the last series? And how do you hope to see you guys have maybe a similar one of sorts for today?

DAVE ROBERTS: I liked the at-bats. It's really big stuff. It's a high-velocity fastball. He can spin the baseball. I thought we got the pitch count up.

I think for us, it's kind of scare him out of the strike zone. And I think if we do that, it will bode well for us.

I don't think we can just sit back on our heels. But I think the at-bats that we took, if we can continue that, I think we'll fare very well.

Q. Is Freddie in there today?

DAVE ROBERTS: We'll see. He's still going through treatment. I haven't posted the lineup yet. We're still in a wait-and-see mode. I'm still hopeful -- maybe not as hopeful as I was yesterday.

Q. If he is in there, is there anything you guys will have to do defensively to compensate maybe for lack of mobility for him or be more conscious about bump plays, stuff in his direction?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think there might be a little bit of hedging as far as on the positioning side, if he's in there. As far as playing how far in the hole can he play, potential bunt situation, do we have to give up more on the depth piece. I would say, yeah.

Q. What went into some of the decision, especially no Joe Kelly and having Edgardo Henriquez in there?

DAVE ROBERTS: So the Joe Kelly, his last pitch in a simulated game, throwing a change-up, he felt something in his shoulder. So that kind of put him out of the conversation.

So that was really disappointing, obviously, for Joe. He's just not even viable being such a big piece of this and what he's done in past postseasons. That's Joe.

A week ago or whatever it was, Brusdar went down with the same shoulder situation. So that's sort of -- Honeywell is not available until Game 5. That left Michael and Henriquez in play.

Q. Just to follow up on Freddie, if he's not able to be in the starting lineup, are you still considering Muncy or Kike to play there?

DAVE ROBERTS: If Freddie is not in the lineup we'll have Muncy at first base and Kike at third.

Q. As far as the roster, I know Kershaw is keeping his arm going and I know this round was out of the question, but are you closing the door on him possibly being available for the NLCS if you make it?

DAVE ROBERTS: No, we're not. We're closing the door. Clayton has done everything he can to keep this thing moving forward and giving himself a chance to participate in the postseason. But where he's at right now, physically, the foot, the toe just is not cooperating. It's actually getting worse. Yeah, this is it for Clayton for 2024.

Q. With Freddie, you guys were pretty optimistic, he was pretty optimistic yesterday. Did something happen yesterday? Did something change?

DAVE ROBERTS: I talked to him this morning. There was still some soreness. So we're trying to weigh the fact of being in there versus how effective he can be. Nothing, it's more of just kind of how he's feeling.

Again, that's why I'm trying to wait as long as I can to see and go through his pre-workout and prep, pregame stuff.

Q. When Freddie says he's trying to come back in a week from a four-to-six week rehab injury, how concerned does that make you that probably not a great idea to play this guy right now?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, that's why I think there's a lot of hesitation because it is a couple-week thing for sure, a few-week thing.

With him, obviously he's determined and wants to exhaust every potential possibility for him to play. So those are things, yeah, you've got to weigh the fact that pencilling in the name "Freddie Freeman" versus how effective he can be right now and the cost of ensuing games.

Those are things that we're talking about obviously with the training staff, absolutely.

Q. Also, you don't want to make the injury any worse than it already is, too.

DAVE ROBERTS: Correct.

Q. So he had had a season, I know there have been crazy ones with injuries, but have you had a season where there's been more recurring injuries to the same players as this one?

DAVE ROBERTS: Just injuries in totality, never seen anything like this. Just kind of overall, I don't know exactly as far as the recurring, but it's been a crazy one for sure.

Q. With Yamamoto, I know obviously with his availability for Game 5, part of the reason he's throwing in Game 1, but you wouldn't have done that if you didn't think he could handle taking the ball in Game 1. What else about him do you believe he's ready for that?

DAVE ROBERTS: That was part of the math. The other part is we just feel that he's got the pedigree. He's got the stuff. I think he's got the heartbeat. He has pitched in huge ball games. And it's all relative to where you are in life and your career.

So relative to that, he's pitched in huge baseball games and he's done nothing but perform. So I think with just knowing that the makeup of the player, the skill set of the stuff, we just feel he's certainly a very viable number one.

Q. On Joe Kelly, would he be available for the next round?

DAVE ROBERTS: I don't think Joe would be available for the next round. I think if we were fortunate enough to get to the World Series, I think that would be the first conversation.

Q. When you talk about throwing the first punch, does it feel like -- obviously this is an important thing in any postseason series -- but getting ahead and playing with the lead in this match-up with how good both teams' bullpens are, does that feel like an especially big key this week?

DAVE ROBERTS: It does. It does. It's not the end all be all, but catching a lead certainly increases winning percentage.

I just think that coming into this series, again, a team that's already played in a postseason environment, we have to match that intensity from the outset. So that's why I kind of use the analogy of throwing the first punch, be ready to fight. I think we've got to make sure that we get up to speed from pitch one.

Q. When you look at the bullpen, how good of an idea for like ninth-inning situations do you have? Is it going to be like the way you guys played it out at the end of the season where it's more match-up-based? Or is Kopech or somebody else a more specific option for a potential save situation?

DAVE ROBERTS: I would say it's more match-up based. I think what we've done a good job is we've got probably on our roster, there are five or six guys that have got a save maybe in this season. So I feel very comfortable. They've all pitched in leverage, whether it be the fifth, the sixth, the seventh or the ninth.

So I think that whatever pitcher I feel is best in that particular part of the game, part of the lineup, that's who I'm going to use.

Q. What about Miguel Rojas? Is he in the lineup today?

DAVE ROBERTS: He's in the lineup today. He's in the lineup, yes. And the week helped him. He feels good. He feels good.

It's what it is. Like I said before, he wasn't going to miss this one.

Q. I know we talked before the MRI results came out that showed the tear, that he's been dealing with that for a while. Do you think it was that severe what he's been dealing with, or is it just kind of --

DAVE ROBERTS: It's somewhat severe. I think where we're at right now is where we've been all year with him. So he hasn't played at 100 percent essentially all year. I think that's where he's at right now. And we're good with that.

Q. Going back to Yoshinobu. Do you feel good just in regard to his buildup, stress of the innings, just considering only four starts coming off the IL preparing for this outing?

DAVE ROBERTS: I do. I think with the postseason, I think every pitcher in the postseason, especially our guys, know that you just go as hard as you can for as long as you can, get as many outs as you can. So as far as the build-up, I think that what we've done is certainly adequate to kind of put us in a good spot to win a ball game.