Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Still Admits He's Learning More Every October

Dave Roberts is still learning how to win in October.

Most Dodger fans will blame Dave Roberts for Saturday’s blowout loss against the Arizona Diamondbacks to start the 2023 NLDS. He did everything he should have. The Diamondbacks just outplayed the Dodgers. 

Roberts freely admits he is still learning how to manage in October. 

"I think I've been guilty of not appreciating the rhythm of the game in the postseason and trying to essentially err a little bit on being proactive instead of being reactive, which I don't apologize for that. But I think that getting to know your players more and just -- not saying you don't trust the player but trusting certain players, and also you can speak to trust who you have coming into games and more specifically to the pitching side.

"So I think I'm maybe a little bit less proactive maybe than I have been in the past. But, again, all the decisions that I've made, some have gone well. Some haven't, the results. And I've got to live with that. But I still believe that I'm trying to get better every year and put our players in the best spots to perform.

Roberts is trying to learn when to pull pitchers during the postseason. In the past, he has been criticized for pulling pitchers who were doing fantastically and leaving his regular-season stars in too long when they were struggling.

On Saturday, Roberts and most Dodger fans expected Clayton Kershaw to go at least three innings. However, when Kershaw ran into major trouble in the first, Roberts got Emmet Sheehan up as soon as he recognized Kershaw didn’t have it. It took Sheehan time to warm up in the bullpen.

Roberts showed much maturity during Saturday’s debacle.