The Milwaukee Brewers are the 2026 World Series champions, and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts knows why.
Appearing on the “Baseball Tonight with Buster Olney” podcast, Roberts revealed his impression of the Brewers after being swept in the National League Championship Series, and in doing so, likely revealed why the Dodgers couldn’t garner a win.
What did Dave Roberts say about the Brewers?
For much of the 2026 season, Roberts and the Dodgers roster had to answer questions about motivation.
After all, winning typically produces complacency, and back-to-back championships only increase that danger.
Despite that, the Dodgers frequently said they were motivated by chasing history, as no NL team has ever won three straight World Series titles before.
Despite that desire to craft an enduring legacy, the Dodgers ran into a team who just wanted it more, he told Olney.
“Typically, getting eliminated, it’s hard to sit back and watch and feel like you should be there, so it hurts a little bit more,” he said. “This year’s different. I’ve really loved the way the Brewers have played.
“I was telling my wife after we got eliminated, I know our guys are hungry, but the Brewers were starving. And you don’t know how that’s going to translate into performance, whether it’s anxiousness, feeling the pressure, or it’s willing to die for every pitch, every at bat, every win.”
As an example, Roberts cited a moment from one of the early games, when Dodgers relief pitcher Edgardo Henriquez threw a high fastball at 101 or 102 mph “at Cooper Pratt’s face, on accident; it got away from him.”
Pratt then stood up, got back in the batter’s box and hit a line drive over the second baseman’s head.
“That kind of encapsulates what the Brewers are about,” Roberts said.
His own team’s loss notwithstanding, Roberts has enjoyed this Brewers run to a title, during which they went 11-2 in the playoffs.
“For me, as a baseball guy, Buster, it’s been fun to watch these guys play,” he said.
