LOS ANGELES—Dodgers club president Andrew Friedman put to rest Sunday any doubts about the job manager Dave Roberts has done.
The club’s president of baseball operations made a full-throated endorsement of Roberts during a season in which the Dodgers constantly shuffled players amid a spate of injuries. “He’s been great,” Friedman said of Roberts, who has one year left on his current contract.
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As an exclamation point, the Dodgers throttled the New York Mets, 9-0, in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium on Sunday night, extending their record-tying scoreless pitching streak to 33 innings. Game 2 is Monday.
The Dodgers’ hobbled lineup and three previous years of postseason disappointment had spawned a chorus of doubters about Roberts’ future ahead of the playoffs. “I think the number of injuries we withstood during the year at different times, you could see where it was a little deflating to the clubhouse,” Friedman said. “They’re out there battling, doing everything they can to accomplish our regular season goal of winning the division, and things keep happening.”
The injuries just kept coming as the Dodgers set the roster for the NLCS. Shortstop Miguel Rojas and left-hander Alex Vesia were not on it. Rojas has overall body aches and Vesia tweaked an oblique and had to come out of Game 5 of Friday’s NL Division Series win over the San Diego Padres. Neither may be back for the World Series.
That left the Dodgers with only one left-handed reliever in the bullpen and outfielder Tommy Edmonds playing short.
The Dodgers have 10 pitchers out, nine on the injured list, totaling close to $40 million in salary, including such notables as Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May.
It’s left Roberts a group of three starters to use right now, plus juggling his bullpen to get through some games. The Dodgers used a bullpen game to win Game 4 at Petco Park when eight pitchers shut out the Padres. And they’ll mix in another one Monday against the Mets at home before going back to their only other two viable starters—Walker Buehler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto—Wednesday and Thursday at Citi Field.
“I guess the game itself in San Diego played out as well as we could possibly have hoped for,” Friedman said as the Dodgers try to do it again.
Friedman said Roberts’ calm hand has made a big difference as the Dodgers navigated through a 98-win NL West-winning season and so far four more in the playoffs. Their magic number for another World Series title is seven more wins.
“Doc’s just relentless optimism helped keep things directionally positive and moving forward,” Friedman said, using his manager’s nickname. “Obviously we have had a number of things go on this year, and it’s something that certainly made it more challenging. And he’s been a massive player in the success we’ve had to this point.”
Roberts had Jack Flaherty go deep Sunday through the seventh inning, the first time a starter had gone that far in this postseason. The five innings Yamamoto threw Friday against the Padres has been closer to the Dodgers’ norm.
Roberts has been adept at working with baseball ops to juggle his starters, bullpen and lineup. A lot of it is scripted, he admitted, much like the bullpen game that throttled the Padres and led them to finish the NLDS with 24 consecutive scoreless innings. They added another nine Sunday, finishing with two relievers to tie a postseason record the Baltimore Orioles set in 1966 against the Dodgers, when they swept them in that World Series. The 1903 Pittsburgh Pirates hold the regular season record of throwing 56 scoreless innings in a row.
The injury bug hasn’t just affected the pitching staff; key position players have dealt with it as well, including Rojas, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy and Austin Barnes. Gavin Lux left Sunday’s game with a sore hip flexor.
“For me, personally, it’s been my most challenging season,” Roberts said. “Obviously with the injuries and introducing a lot of young players in critical roles, it’s always tough. You’re in a position where you just have to trust and run guys out there in spots that you don’t normally feel good about, and keep this whole machine moving forward in a good, positive direction.”
The Dodgers, with this season’s $350.3 million payroll, bring in top-flight star players, and Roberts has responded in his nine years as manager with an astounding .627 regular season winning percentage and an 851-506 record. His teams have gone to the playoffs all nine seasons and the World Series three times, including a six-game victory over Tampa Bay after the 2020 pandemic shortened season.
That track record has earned him Friedman’s commitment.
“It’s been really rewarding to our scouts, our player development staff, and our Major League coaching staff regarding the number of guys who have come up, contributed and played a big part in where we are right now,” Friedman said.
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