NL DIVISION SERIES: PADRES VS DODGERS

October 10, 2024

Dave Roberts

Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. What's the pitching plan for tomorrow? Have you guys made a decision just yet?

DAVE ROBERTS: I haven't finalized it. Obviously I'm sure Yoshinobu will be a part of it. How we will deploy the relievers around it, if that's the case, I just don't know.

Q. When you look at what you were able to do yesterday how much did that serve as a blueprint of everything in regard to the at-bats, getting to their starter early, things like that?

DAVE ROBERTS: It's kind of what we had hoped for. I think just being aggressive, trying to scare the pitcher, whoever it might be, out of their zone.

Darvish, certainly aggressive with his spin. So I think that it's still kind of ball in zone, be aggressive, shorten your swing because anything's in play with Yu in any count.

Q. You mentioned Yamamoto would be a part of it. I'm not sure if he's had much experience coming out of the bullpen. Like, if you do go with an opener in front of him or whatever, do you feel like that's something that he could do?

DAVE ROBERTS: Those are things we're talking through. I said it, I think, yesterday after the game. We have six or seven relievers available. So I feel good about the relief kind of coverage.

How Yoshinobu is a part of it, we're still talking through it. I think the main variable is seeing our guys go out there today, play catch, see how they feel, which will give us a little bit more information on ultimately who takes the brunt of the game, who starts the game.

But to your question, I just feel he'll do whatever we ask.

Q. With Freddie and Rojas, how do you see their availability for Game 5?

DAVE ROBERTS: I don't see Miggy available for Game 5. Maybe to pinch-hit. I think Freddie is going to be in there. With two days off, he didn't try to get ready yesterday. He's feeling better today with treatment. So I just feel like tomorrow he'll be in there.

Q. Do you expect Flaherty to be part of the plan tomorrow?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, he'll be a part of it. I don't know how that would come into play. But I think again in an elimination game, I think everyone should be a part of the plan.

Q. With Rojas, likely out, does that mean Edman at short and trying to figure out what you do in center?

DAVE ROBERTS: Correct.

Q. Do you know what you're doing in center yet?

DAVE ROBERTS: I do.

Q. Don't want to share?

DAVE ROBERTS: Not yet.

Q. When you have, especially as you're looking at some of these decisions, like, obviously you have guys who have been better in regular season, guys like Kike who have the postseason track record of playing well. How do you way that especially in a winner-take-all game?

DAVE ROBERTS: That's a great question. Obviously you're managing with urgency because every game is important, the moment is important. And Kike has shown that he gets up for the postseasons. That's self-admitted as well. So just kind of what he's done, it's hard not to ignore that.

The sample over the course of a season is certainly something, but the sample doesn't equate to any type of success in my opinion in one postseason moment. It's kind of the person, that particular moment, and you've got to make a bet. So that's kind of how I look at it.

Q. With Yamamoto, how confident are you guys that you have attacked the tipping issue that you may have had in Game 1?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think we've cleaned stuff up. And, to their credit, they did a good job scouting and stuff like that. But I think, overall, kind of where Yoshinobu is at, I feel really comfortable.

Q. I know it's just three starts and one was the Korea one, but they have hit him pretty well. Why is it do you think they have had good results against Yamamoto?

DAVE ROBERTS: The Korea start is even hard to really talk about. I guess I think over the course, it's just lack of command. When he hasn't commanded the baseball, he hasn't been really that good.

But when he's convicted and ripping it and attacking hitters with his pitch mix, he's as good as anyone.

So I think that, from Korea to the last one, when you start kind of nibbling and getting behind, that's when he's not at his best.

Q. You mentioned the six or seven high-leverage guys you have available. How would you compare this group to like some of your recent bullpens in the postseason?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think it's better in the sense of the depth. I've shown that there's not a guy I don't trust in big spots. So you have a lot of neutrality with our guys.

So I think that when you have to go to the same well for every big hotspot, it has a tendency in the postseason to catch up to you. Where this year I feel that we have a lot of different guys that we can kind of deploy in certain lanes or certain spots.

Q. As you're trying to figure out sort of the path for Game 5, is one of those options just another bullpen game?

DAVE ROBERTS: It is an option. It is an option.

Q. I guess the upside of that being Yamamoto and Jack get to start four times next round if you advance?

DAVE ROBERTS: That is an advantage.

Q. Last time Darvish pitched in a winner-takes-all game in postseason was in 2017 with you guys. And you know what happened at the time. Do you expect to be haunted by that memory?

DAVE ROBERTS: I don't know. That's probably a better question for Yu. I do know what happened. And I think for us it's just being ready to hit. He doesn't give in but when he throws his slider, curveball in the strike zone or makes a mistake with the fastball, we've got to be ready to hit it. I do feel if we can put pressure on him early, that puts us in a good position.

Q. Out of curiosity, yesterday you kept switching positions between C.T. and Kike. What were you thoughts there?

DAVE ROBERTS: The thought was there's certain pitchers that I felt, if they had a tendency to put the ball in the ground I wanted Kike at third. And if there's a tendency to have the ball in the air, I wanted Kike to be out there. So that was kind of the genesis behind why I was doing that.

Q. You obviously have been in this situation, been the top seed, done the delay and the break and everything a few times now. People talk about the layoff. But I'm curious how much of what makes it hard to be the higher seed in the series is just the difference in pressure? That one team's coming in seemingly with kind of the expectations of their regular season and the other team has a little bit less on their back. If that is a part of it, what conclusions have you come to about how you make that easier on a team?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think that, I guess, one thing is when you're a higher seed there's certain expectations certainly that come with that. I think, in a perfect world, I would say, all things being equal as far as injuries and things like that, is to go to the Wild Card Series and come out of it because it keeps you current. There's momentum behind it.

The cost or the challenge is, do you want to take that chance. So obviously you're already banked in a Division Series.

I think that's why teams that come out of a Wild Card Series have somewhat of an advantage because they're current as far as playing a schedule that we're used to and there's momentum going into the next series.

So how do we try to kind of find that same momentum after having five or six days off or whatever? So that's the challenge.

Q. How much did last night's success with the bullpen game play into your willingness to do it again tomorrow?

DAVE ROBERTS: It's a big part of it. It's a big part of it. And also I feel that we can mix some things around as far as lanes and runs again because the neutrality and the confidence that our pen has.

But coming off of what they did last night makes everyone feel pretty confident going into Game 5.

Q. And the tipping issue with Yoshinobu came up in Spring Training and Korea as well. Why is it resurfaced or persisted in his case?

DAVE ROBERTS: Well, he's been out quite a bit. He was out quite a bit and I think he's had four starts since. I think we identified it. Again, this is something that just is some of the stuff they were doing and some of the swings that they took. We just wanted to take a closer look at it make sure we have it all buttoned up.

Q. When you do look at the lanes for different relievers, do you take into account trying to get different guys on different hitters from last night? Does that factor into the decision at all?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, all that kind of -- the leverage, the lanes, the score, recency as far as head to head -- all that stuff is in my thought process, absolutely.

Q. You've kind of done the opener thing before a Game 5. You did it with Julio a couple years ago. You also had your ace kind of go in those situations. What are the pros and cons with going with more of a bullpen game, trying to mix and match as opposed to going the guy who you guys have always said, this is why you signed him?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think that the bullpen games, the lanes, the usage is more defined. And then you sort of go to the next guy. When you go traditional, there's just sort of stress points, breaking points that I've got to make a decision at what point you pivot or do you continue to kind of ride with that guy for however many innings or outs.

And that's kind of -- that's the difference as opposed to a bullpen guy. There's a clear lane or a clear purpose why he's in the game.

Q. When you were looking into whether Yamamoto was tipping, what he was doing, was there something that was changing in his delivery, or that he doesn't usually do? Or is it more about kind of controlling and, like, hiding the tendency versus making a shift coming back?

DAVE ROBERTS: It's a little of both. I think it's a little of just kind of being aware of it. If we're aware of certain tendencies that we might have, then you can kind of manage it. So however we decide to go about doing that is what we're going to do, if that makes any sense.

Q. About Yoshinobu, if he doesn't start tomorrow and come out from the pen, what's his idea? Is he comfort or what was his thoughts?

DAVE ROBERTS: He's very comfortable. He is very excited about tomorrow, whatever happens. And I just don't know what's going to happen going forward. I think our only focus is tomorrow and finding the best pitchers to prevent runs tomorrow and putting together a lineup that's going to give us the best chance to win tomorrow. That's my thought.

Q. He's okay with both?

DAVE ROBERTS: Correct.