Oct 15, 2022; San Diego, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts talks to the press after being defeated by the San Diego Padres during game four of the NLDS for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Won’t Let 5 Game Layoff Be an Excuse for LA’s Failure

Jeff Snider 10/17/2022

1 1 minute read

In 2021, the Dodgers battled for the NL West division title down to the final day of the season, losing out by one game to the Giants. They beat the Cardinals in the Wild Card game and defeated the Giants in the NLDS but then ran out of gas in the NLCS against the Braves, who eventually won the World Series.

In 2022, Los Angeles took the exact opposite approach, clinching the division with more than three weeks left in the season and locking down a five-day break after the regular season because of the first-round bye that was new to this year’s playoff structure.

Unfortunately, the end result was going into the playoffs having not played a meaningful game in a month, and that showed as the Dodgers lost in four games to the Padres in the NLDS.

After Saturday’s season-ending loss, L.A. manager Dave Roberts was asked about the five-day layoff and how it might have factored into the loss.

“You know, I think that’s something that we could probably debate, but I think leading up to it, even right now, it’s not something that we want to look at as an excuse. That’s kind of the format the way it is, and you do the best you can in the regular season to put yourself in a position to get home-field advantage, to get the bye in the Wild Card round, and it’s up to us to kind of prepare ourselves the best way we can to get through a Division Series, and we didn’t.”

One of the most infuriating things about sports fandom is you can never really know how things might have turned out otherwise. In 2021, the questions were all about, “What if Max Muncy and Clayton Kershaw didn’t get hurt in the final weekend of the season?” This year, there are plenty of what-ifs, including about the long layoff before the Division Series.

In the end, the Padres simply outplayed the Dodgers, and we may never really know why.

Have you subscribed to our YouTube Channel yet? Subscribe and hit that notification bell to stay up to date on all the latest Dodgers news, rumors, interviews, live streams, and more!