NL DIVISION SERIES: PADRES VS DODGERS

October 6, 2024

Dave Roberts

Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers

Pregame 2 Press Conference

Q. I know when we kind of talked about, whether it's Jack Flaherty, just the emotions from Shohei Ohtani that we've seen as of late, when you think about, not new intensity but the intensity we've been seeing from players how do you see that Jack adds to that, with the fired edge he has on the mound?

DAVE ROBERTS: He certainly is additive with that. The great thing about Jack is that it's organic; it's not contrived. So there's an intensity to him. Great preparation.

Our guys are going to feed off of that. Last night, I think you saw that with our guys. I think we're going to kind of follow Jack today as well.

Q. How much are you looking forward to just seeing him in this postseason, this moment and being now with this organization considering he grew up being a fan of it?

DAVE ROBERTS: I'm excited. I think we're all excited. I can't imagine -- I guess I can -- your childhood team you rooted for and then playing for them in a postseason and to kind of see it come full circle.

I talked to him and his mom being in the upper deck watching games when he was a baby. Now to see him pitching in a postseason game it's very cool, very special. I just know that Jack has a way of compartmentalizing. Once we get all that talked about, then it's business.

Q. Miguel was in here talking about how more aggressive you guys have been over this last month. Is that something you guys have looked back in postseasons past when the offense hasn't quite been there, that maybe you guys have been too passive at times?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, I think that the one thing that we do a good job as an offense is control the strike zone, run at-bats, go deep in counts.

But I think that at times we get a little too passive. You've got to be ready to strike if the ball's in the hitting zone. I think we've seen it in past postseasons where, to be quite honest, we've been bullied with the fastball. So I think for us to be ready to hit off a fastball.

But today's going to be a different thing. Yu is going to spin us. He'll be selective when he uses his fastball. We've got to be kind of still focused in our hitting zone.

Q. Is that more aggressive approach sort of come in line with the bottom of the order being more productive the second half of the season?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think the aggressiveness is sort of tied into the entire lineup. The aggressive -- I don't know how it manifests to the bottom because I do think that the bottom, when they're running counts but still being aggressive and ready to hit, but I do think that there's good outs, bad outs, understanding your role in the lineup.

And 7, 8, 9, to be quite honest, is to set the table at the top. So, have productive at-bats and those guys understand their roles.

Q. With Shohei, he wasn't a guy for a big part of his career that emoted a lot; you didn't really see a lot of emotion. You have this year. Do you think that's the comfort of knowing, hey, I'm the best player in the world now, comfortable in the big leagues, or being around winning a lot more than he was maybe in years past?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think that winning certainly helps. I think he does realize he's the best player on the planet. I do think that he's become over the course of the season, I think who he intrinsically is.

He's very isolated, very quiet, stays to himself, private. But I do think that naturally he is a goofy person. He's fun-loving. He's a crazy good competitor.

So I think that when he sees people having fun, enjoying themselves in moments, I think we've seen more of that over the course of the season. I think that's a good thing for him because it's honest.

And I think that's a good thing for our players to see that, man, this guy is not just a robot; he's like a real person who has emotions. So I think this is good for everybody.

Q. You talked going into this series about how you wanted your team to play with a particular sort of edge. How much did Freddie seemingly willing himself into the lineup helping to kind of set a tone there?

DAVE ROBERTS: It's big. It's huge. I think that it's like the sacrificing. He's sacrificing health to find a way to be on the field. And then when you sacrifice anything, it makes what you're sacrificing for more important.

I think that our players see the sacrifice he's making. We've had things that, leading up to this postseason, that guys have sacrificed -- family, friends, time -- to be together and to focus on winning 11 games.

I think that that in itself is making our guys appreciate this opportunity and, again, the edge. Because we've given up a lot and I think even in this moment in time.

But to your Freddie point, I think, yeah, this guy is sacrificing his body for his teammates.

Q. Going off that, you mentioned being bullied in the past postseasons. I guess, did the way you guys won last night, overcoming the early deficit, did that show you something different about what this team can accomplish in high-pressure postseason situations?

DAVE ROBERTS: Absolutely, yes. With the postseason, you can't always be a front-runner. You can't always kind of play downhill. There's going to be times where it gets hot, you're playing from behind, there's some adversity and you can't just fold.

We had 27 outs left after the first inning, the top of the first. And so to our guys' credit, we created an opportunity in the first and didn't come through, but persevered and found a way to break through with a big Shohei hit.

That's kind of a sign of our club. But for those guys to kind of do it, then it becomes more tangible, and you feel like you can do that more often. That was a good thing for us certainly in Game 1 and sort of not fold the tents.

Q. Was the decision to play Freddie today a little more clear-cut, a little easier today than it was yesterday?

DAVE ROBERTS: It was. Much easier today. I think that he is in the same spot, but I do feel that there's a little more comfort in Freddie, for Freddie, and knowing kind of where the floor is at for him.

Whereas, yesterday, you're just trying to figure out what this means and how it feels. But I think feeling how he felt, how he feels today, he feels that he can get through today and manage it. So we certainly feel much more confident today, yeah.

Q. Two-parter, is everybody available out of the bullpen today? And the other part is how much of a concern is usage as this series goes along?

DAVE ROBERTS: I'm not concerned about usage. I'm concerned about winning tonight. We'll deal with whatever pieces we have to going forward. With that said, everyone's available today.

Even Blake Treinen said he felt good. But he's going to go out there, play catch. But, again, we're going to do everything we can to win today.

Q. I know you touched on this last night but how much more did you guys dig into the Yamamoto tipping piece? And how confident are you that that's something you can get cleaned up before he pitches again?

DAVE ROBERTS: I feel good about it. We're talking about it. We have some time. We're digging in on it. Thanks for asking.

Q. The bottom of the lineup, how much do you think knowing that Shohei is behind them and kind of set the table for him just helps the production down there and just the focus level they have and being able to say as consistent as they've been during the second half of the season?

DAVE ROBERTS: It's big. I think that with anything, when you understand your role and you buy into your role, then there's clarity and you feel better about it, more conviction. So I think that, not to take away anything from our guys at the bottom, but the truth of the matter it's to go out there and take team at-bats.

When you have the best player on the planet looming, it certainly understands that it's all worth it. The buy-in is there.

And I'll tell you this. There was an at-bat last night. Miggy popped up with first or first and second base -- and it was a popup, but it was before Shohei homered. It was nondiscrete at-bat on the scorecard.

But instead of rolling over and trying to pull the baseball, he tried to ride that slider out and popped it up. But what it did was it gave Shohei an opportunity to hit. If he would have tried to chase slug or do a little more damage that ball would have been a ground-ball play. So that right there is stuff that's not lost on me.

Q. When you look at just kind of Mookie Betts' at-bats yesterday, what did you see from him? I know we've talked with him about how last year it looked and kind of the mindset he was going into this postseason with, just kind of any takeaways you've seen from him so far in just one game?

DAVE ROBERTS: I feel Mookie is in a really good spot. I don't think he's searching with the mechanics. I think I loved the at-bats yesterday. I loved the competing even when he was down 0-2 to find a way to get back into the count to then ultimately earn a free pass.

Yeah, I think he's in the strike zone. There's conviction behind his swing. So I love where Mookie is right now.

Q. We've talked about the struggles that Mookie and Freeman had the last two postseasons ad infinitum. Yesterday, with Shohei at the top of the lineup they're on base seven times. This all comes down to having him in the lineup, all the enthusiasm you're talking about, the increase from the fans, it's all really attributed to having Ohtani on the team, which you didn't have the last two years. Do you feel that way?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yes, yeah. He's a global talent. I mean, there's people that come all over the world to watch this man play. And we're the beneficiaries of it.

I think the energy anytime he comes up to bat, he's on deck, you get guys on base, I know the pitcher on that mound feels it.

So it's certainly a good thing for all of us, but it's up to us all to kind of do our parts and our respective roles. But Shohei is definitely a big part of the excitement, the anticipation and obviously the talent in our ballclub.

Q. You paid 700 million, so it didn't just come along for nothing. But going to Mookie, interesting how Shildt walked him twice to pitch to Freeman, which is something that you don't often see. And you kind of wonder when you start walking Ohtani to pitch to those guys and let them beat it?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah it might happen. It might not. Obviously the game situation calls for it and whatever Mike feels that the time to not take his chance with Shohei and take his chance with Mookie and Freddie, we'll see. But I still trust the guys behind Shohei as well.