Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Sees the Bigger Picture in LA’s Struggles
You’re probably already aware, but the Los Angeles Dodgers haven’t gotten off to the most spectacular of starts.
And now as the halfway point of the season is approaching ever faster, the team’s cold start is becoming more of a trend than a brief concern.
The Dodgers sit at 42-33 and in third place in the NL West behind both the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants as of Saturday morning, and the group still has a myriad of issues, most notably with a vulnerable bullpen and a patchwork starting rotation that’s been hampered by both injuries and poor performance throughout this season.
And manager Dave Roberts sees more than just the obvious problems, as he said earlier this week.
Dave Roberts on the importance for Clayton Kershaw to set the tone in tonight's opener and the #Dodgers recent struggles. pic.twitter.com/Z20IHKhGI7
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) June 21, 2023
“To me it’s more than just playing to win a game, it’s more about how we do it. And I think we’ve gotten away from how we go about things. … There’s obviously been a lot of talk about the bullpen. But I think within that, there’s still things that defensively we can do to not give away bases. And I think offensively we’re leaving runners out there more than we should. So I think, for us, it’s the little things that we need to be mindful of, then the ultimate result will take care of itself.”
“For me, the messaging is ‘let’s focus on minding those little things.’”
Dave Roberts via SportsNet LA
When it comes to hitting with runners in scoring position, the Dodgers are hitting .259 in those situations.
Respectable? Yes, but that’s a 13-point drop compared to last season when they led all of MLB in that category with a .272 mark, and something they definitely have to improve on.
Things went better for the Dodgers in the Freeway Series where they swept the Angels over two games — including a surprising shutout victory in a bullpen game — but the team has to keep performing over a longer period if they want to flip the switch on their season thus far.
The momentum of the Angels series carried over into Friday when the Dodgers took the first of three against the rival Houston Astros.
