Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Challenges Struggling Players to Figure it Out

Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger had another day off on Wednesday, and manager Dave Roberts was asked about it. Bellinger got two days off as a “reset” last month, and the similarly struggling Chris Taylor has also been given several breathers in an attempt to get out of his funk. But on Wednesday afternoon, Roberts told the media the time for resets has come and gone.

“I think the reset window has passed. Guys have got to perform. And so with that, they’ve got to play. They want to play. But as far as the playing time, other guys deserve the opportunity to play as well. So that’s where trying to balance the playing time for everyone that’s worthy and other guys that need it to get untracked kind of comes into play.”

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The “other guys” include Trayce Thompson, who has performed pretty consistently since being acquired by the Dodgers in June, and Joey Gallo, who has shown signs of life since coming to L.A. at the trade deadline. The logjam will only get worse when Gavin Lux returns from his neck issue, because second base will no longer be a regular option for Taylor to get playing time.

Roberts isn’t ready yet to pull the plug on Bellinger and Taylor, though. With the division all but wrapped up and a healthy lead in the race for best record in baseball, the next four weeks of games are almost meaningless.

“We’re not there yet. I think there’s enough season, enough games for guys to kind of find their way so I’m not even at that point yet.”

But as Roberts points out, other players need playing time to stay sharp, while rookie Miguel Vargas is looking for at-bats to potentially earn a spot on the postseason roster.

And that’s where “guys have got to perform” comes in. We’ve seen Max Muncy and Justin Turner turn around terrible seasons and become key contributors again, and both Taylor and Bellinger have broken out of slumps before.

But realistically, both Bellinger and Taylor might have been benched in the postseason last year if the Dodgers had had any better options, as Belli had a .379 OPS over his last 40 games and Taylor’s was .538 over his last 46 games. Both of them came through in the postseason, but injuries and the Dodgers’ lack of depth were the only reasons they got the chance. (There will be no Steven Souza, Billy McKinney, or even Matt Beaty on this year’s postseason roster.)

Neither player can stumble into October and expect playing time this year, not with so many options available. So if they’re waiting until the last moment for a dramatic turnaround, that moment is basically here.

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