Dodgers Team News

Dodgers: Dave Roberts Lays Out Expectations for Starting Pitchers

After being on a roll for most of the summer, Dodgers starting pitching has struggled off and on since mid-August. Walker Buehler surrendered 4 earned runs to the Rockies on Saturday night to pick up his 4th loss of the season. The game before, Clayton Kershaw served up 4 runs as well.

After Saturday’s game, manager Dave Roberts was asked about what he needs to see out of his starters for the final week of the regular season.

Number 1, health — and I think that we feel good about that with all of our guys. And the other part is just their stuff, and how it’s coming out. And the other part is execution.

So I think that the health, the stuff from all our guys is where it needs to be. But as far as the execution we’re just a little bit short right now.

The Dodgers were the first team to clinch a playoff berth in all of baseball, so there hasn’t been all that much to play for over the past week. With that, the question is whether “the meaning of the games” is on players minds.

I don’t know… this is when guys need to ramp up and focus, and really make pitches. As long as guys are healthy — all those guys have had postseason experience, and understand the importance of every outing.

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NL Cy Young hopeful Hyun-Jin Ryu starts on Sunday, and each starter — including Rich Hill — should get at least one more tune up outing before the regular season ends. LA heads to San Diego for 3, and finishes up in San Francisco for 3. The next meaningful games for the team start on October 3rd where they will host the winner of the NL Wild Card game.

Clint Pasillas

Clint Pasillas has been writing, blogging, and podcasting about the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2008. Under Clint's leadership as the Lead Editor, Dodgers Nation has grown into one of the most read baseball sites in the world with millions of unique visitors per month. Find him online on Twitter/X or his YouTube channel!

One Comment

  1. For a minute there, I thought Doc was going to tell them all in advance to “expect” to get the “hook” no later than the fourth inning! Seriously, it was not likely they would have stayed so dominant all year, but it will be interesting to see if the starters can regain their first half mojo in the next week or so. Meanwhile, the bats are going to have to be strong to make up for the early and the late homers.

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