Los Angele Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained what the team is looking to achieve in the second half of the year.
The Dodgers already have an 11.5-game lead in the National League West, the best record in MLB by a handful of games, and all of this has come without very much injury luck.
With so much success for the Dodgers, there can naturally be issues staying focused and locked in, especially after two straight titles.
However, while manager Dave Roberts has not been stellar in other areas, keeping his Dodgers teams engaged and rallying them has never really been an issue.
Roberts, looking out at the post-All-Star slate, is seemingly intent on keeping the team looking at the carrot on the stick — a Wild Card bye and home field advantage throughout the postseason.
“I will say this, though – maybe not for the division but when you’re talking about having the best record and home-field (advantage) throughout, we’re still playing for that,” Roberts said.
“I do think the teams and players that say, ‘This doesn’t matter’ that’s just a loser’s mentality and quite frankly we don’t have those type of guys.”
How the Dodgers veterans approach the regular season
The dog days of baseball are certainly a real thing, and it can be even more pronounced on a team that is ahead in their division or filled with veterans who have been here over and over again.
All-Star third baseman Max Muncy said the Dodgers’ veterans tend to stay engaged and take it a day at a time, without looking at the big picture.
This approach comes from trusting Roberts in the front office to account for days off and manage the team well.
“Just having the experience that a lot of the guys in this room have, I think we have learned,” he said.
“You have to worry about today. In those years, it was kind of, ‘Well, if we win these next two games we can kind of chill for a little bit.’ We don’t need to worry about that as players.
“As players we have to go out there and win every single game. We let Doc and the front office – we let them worry about those decisions (when to rest players). I think that’s why it’s worked so well.”
Dodgers fans should not worry about their team coming out flat, at least for now, since the team looks to keep its foot on the gas.
