Is The Manager the Problem?
Pitching changes, lineups, and strategy decisions are subjective… VERY subjective. Additionally, second guessers are seldom wrong. I rarely question tactical decisions because I know that there are frequently underlying reasons. I think I was dead on in what I said about Caleb…
Pitching changes, lineups, and strategy decisions are subjective… VERY subjective. Additionally, second guessers are seldom wrong. I rarely question tactical decisions because I know that there are frequently underlying reasons. I think I was dead on in what I said about Caleb Ferguson, and I think you will find out about it soon enough. The beat writers report what the team gives them; sometimes, they are told not to publish something. Unless they want to be stonewalled, they have to comply. Wait for it, and I think you will learn more about the Caleb Ferguson Ninth Inning Debacle in the future.
Has Dave Roberts lost the Lockerroom? JDM, Freddie, Mookie, Heyward, Peralta, Smith, Rojas, and others are the clubhouse leaders. This is not a rhetorical question. I am asking in all sincerity. This is the 9th year that Dave Roberts has been the Dodgers’ manager. Is his shelf life expired? Does he motivate them or do they just tolerate him?
To me, the lineup doesn’t matter as much as the team’s resolve. Gone are the days when Walter Alston or Tommy Lasorda would manage for 20+ years. Managers now have a “shelf-life,” and at some point, they all “lose the locker room.” In the NBA, they change Head Coaches as often as some people change their underwear. Do the Dodgers need a change in leadership? We saw what happened in Philly last year when Rob Thompson took over for Joe Girardi.
I was not a fan of Don Mattingly, not because he wasn’t a good manager, but because he had lost control of the locker room. Dave Roberts has not lost physical control – this team, as assembled, is composed of a bunch of good dudes, but maybe they need an edge. Maybe Doc is not the guy to give it to them. Maybe you are reading this and think I have lost my mind, or it is being written with AI. I have defended Doc’s moves (usually) because these things are subjective, and to second-guess is petty and makes me wonder if the one who criticizes is self-loathing as well.
Last night, the Dodgers lost a game they should have won. The players seem to be in a malaise. Is it “Syndergaard Syndrome”? Look, I do not fault Andrew Friedman for trying, but it ain’t working. Noah wants to be Thor again and would “give up his firstborn” to do it. He is not trying to become a real pitcher – he wants to be Thor. It ain’t happening. He is the weak link, and everyone knows it. No IL Stint is needed. DFA him immediately and munch on the Benjamins! It’s called addition by subtraction.
Many of you want to trade the Farm for Ohtani, Trout, and six other All-Stars. But I believe there’s more than enough talent on this team and within the Farm System to win the World Series THIS YEAR! Let’s bring back “Pride Night.” I mean Dodger Pride Night. The Players need to play for the name on the front of their jerseys! They don’t need sound bites, and even Ray Charles can see that the locker room is, at least, a little fractured over the Sisters and Clayton’s remarks. These a self-inflicted wounds and should have never happened – hopefully they are smarter now. By the way, in Cincinnati, 16 oz. Beers were $12.00, but Bud Light was $3.50. Go figure. Those Budweiser Marketing Geniuses are so damn smart!
So, what say you? Is Dave Roberts’ shelf live over? Do the Dodgers need a new “Voice?” Of course, the Doc Haters will weigh in, but I am not a Doc Basher – I just want to know!
Dodger News & Notes
- Hunter Feduccia is now hitting .246. Nuff said!
- Daniel Hudson is closing in a July 1st return.
- Julio Urias will allegedly return over the weekend.
- Get your coffee and toast and let’s hope that Clayton can stop the losing streak.
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Discussion (91)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Interesting piece on how bad Umpire Carlos Torres was:
Open on thecomeback.comhttps://thecomeback.com/mlb/carlos-torres-umpire-reds-dodgers-strike-call-eject-david-bell.htmlI’ve never been a huge Roberts fan. I’ve always believed he was hired with the understanding that many if not most decisions come from above.
However, I’ve also said many times; is there a better replacement? The Dodgers will not hire a manager who wants to make all the traditional “manager decisions”. That won’t happen. I think Roberts is still the best option. Sometimes a big change can motivate a team. New blood. But that tends to wear off quite fast. As Mark has pointed out, there are likely things going on which we are not aware. Maybe the “nuns” thing caused problems between players in the clubhouse. Maybe the fact that half the team had a child born in the last month has caused distractions. Who knows?
The grass ain’t always greener. Roberts isn’t perfect, but I don’t see replacing him as something that will improve the team. If I did, I’d call for his head in a second. I just don’t see it.
I have always felt that Roberts is great in the clubhouse and iffy on the field. He is not a great strategic manager. He with the rosters he has had has not been in the position where his offense doesn’t usually get the pitcher off of the hook. In the post-season is when his on-field deficiency’s are most exposed. But he is who he is. He is not going to change, and he is exactly the kind of manager ownership and the FO want.
It still bothers me that our 300-million-dollar man is only hitting in the .250’s. Betts is better than that. He usually heats up as the year goes on. I would like to see him in the .290’s at least Then I would feel they were getting their money’s worth. I think the Dodgers will kick the tires on Ohtani, but I believe he will sign elsewhere for the largest contract with the highest AAV ever.
And that’s how the pitching staff ace rights the ship. Kershaw needs to retire as a Dodger when he wants to buy never west another teams hat.
Peralta needs to stay in the line-up to see if his hot streak continues.
If Robertson continues to pitch
Like he did last night we won’t be seeing Bickford anymore.
What would the Dodgers do without Clayton Kershaw?
The Nationals and Arizona game is canceled due to contamination. It could be the same in Philadelphia with Dongers and Philis. Well needed win. Great Game of Kershaw and Peralta. Tay Scott great too
Yawn! Just another boring win instead of another stirring walk off win for the home team and all their fans the past two days. Sorry Red fans….don’t feel gracious today.
I suppose you can make a case for Roberts blowing it with Ferguson.
But I don’t think his shelf life is up.
It was a mistake to sign Thor, that’s obvious. So Friedman nails it with JD Martinez and blows it with Noah Syndergaard.
But starting the season, the rotation looked like the strength of the Dodgers. Then May gets hurt, Pepiot is hurt, Julio hurt and Noah is a disaster.
Now the bullpen implodes. None of that is on Roberts.
The Dodgers need to get seven innings out of their starters, but that is an organizational flaw, which has hurt the bullpen. I just don’t get the five inning starter mentality.
Honestly, Thor is done. Time to move on. I get it, 13 mil is a lot to eat.
Friedman hit it with Anderson the year before. He got lucky. Tends to be hit and miss.
But Bobby Miller has stepped up. With Julio back, maybe the Dodgers get on a roll.
Maybe they find help at the deadline.
Thank you Kersh. Hopefully when he comes back, Julio puts May in the rear view mirror as Kersh has done. Let’s get our starting pitching back to being dominating again. Can’t wait for Grove’s next outing to see if he maintains that 98 mph heater. Hopefully Kindergaard’s blister takes a couple of months to hesl
I have to disagree with you Bear. Mookie’s OPS .890 is 16th in baseball. For me it’s a better indicator then BA. He’s not been great this year but it’s still early. And his defensive ability at multiple positions is a huge plus.
I watch every game from spring training to the final Dodger game, except for about forty games a few years ago.
Roberts is a horrible manager. I credit him with 5 to 10 losses every season and 2 to 3 in the playoffs.
2020 was Roberts masterpiece. The short season and DH took away at least half of the bad decisions he would usually make. Then in the Series the opposing manager made a Roberts like decision to pull the starting pitcher when the Dodgers were hardly getting a sniff. Within 5 minutes the Dodgers were scoring runs.
Roberts is a players manager. He is like the nice guy boss at work where nobody gets any work done. The Dodgers don’t run out grounders. Roberts : Oh, Cody doesn’t mean anything by not running to first. Cody isn’t the only one. How about standing at home plate admiring the hit that bounces off the wall for a long single instead of a double or triple. Mental errors in the field and on the basepaths. The Dodgers come out flat very often. They have admitted the Padres wanted to win more. Roberts admitted it. Not a ringing endorsement.
Roberts the strategist. Early in his career he made many unorthodox pinch hitting moves that were successful. I nicknamed him the Genius. Haven’t seen much of that lately. His pitching moves have always been horrible. Pulling starters too early to save them for later. I don’t think the Dodgers have less injuries than other teams. Bringing in the bullpen to save the starter. Problem is use too many relievers you may find the one having a bad day. Leaving the starter in to get bombed because the bullpen may get tired. I believe a win early in the season counts as much as a win late in the season. The Dodgers are rarely out of a game and I hate to concede.
His past bromance with retread outfielders hitting under 200. Giving them a long runway when he had other options. I’m talking about the McKinney, Souza, Jr. era.
I do like matching Phillips to the hardest part of the order instead of being the closer. I’m not a big believer in closers unless you have a total lockdown guy like Jansen once was.
I still think the Dodgers can win it all. The dead zone at the bottom of the order is shrinking. The Dodgers don’t need 300 hitters 1 through 9. They just can’t have under 200 hitters 6 through 9. Some of the underperformers are raising their averages. Especially Peralta
The Dodgers only need 4 starters for the playoffs. Expect them to trade for several relievers that you won’t appreciate but maybe 1 can come in handy. Also, a mediocre fielder batting about 250 that will help shrink the dead zone.
Then maybe we can trade Roberts for Bob Melvin, a 3 time manager of the year, who’s doing a bang up job in Dan Diego. And everyone had the Padres with more talent than us this year. For all the whining about Roberts, the Dodgers alwayds seem to win a bunch of games.
Barnes removed after being hit on hand
Don’t say ain’t Jane Cobb! You’ll get corrected! Lol
LA times on Diego Cartaya.
Apparently he AIN’T bad. 😉
Open on www.latimes.comhttps://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2023-06-08/diego-cartaya-dodgers-top-prospect-future-plansRoberts said after the game that if Barnes has to go on the IL, Cartaya will not be the one called up. It will be one of the AAA guys.
Has anybody given any thought to Chris Taylor playing shortstop regularly? He hit his 11th home run today. His batting average is about the same as Rojas, and almost as good defensively, just thinking out loud? Clayton very good today! Hate Barnes got hit , but might get a look at hunter now
I just want to affirm one thing Dodger Dave said : I still think the Dodgers can win it all. Go Dodgers!
Don’t think Dave Roberts is a problem this year. In fact, given the injuries to May, Gonsolin, Pepiot, and Urias and the struggles (putting it nicely) of Syndergaard, they have performed pretty well. Their bullpen has been among the bottom 25 % in baseball and it is not due to Roberts decision making or mishandling. I think Roberts has been pretty steady this year and I trust that his staff and the front office will keep things afloat. Once their pitching gets straightened out, and I think it will, they are as good a bet as any to win the West. The balanced schedule makes it harder to win 105 games every year. Dodgers played almost 60 games last year against the Giants, Rockies, and Dbacks. Plus this season they just finished their most difficult stretch of the year with 13 of 16 games vs. Cardinals, Rays, Braves, Yankees. 10 of those in the road while their pitching staff was falling apart and the bullpen was taxed. I actually think they have hung in there pretty well during these challenges. This was going to be a year to reset their roster and still try to compete. May be a bumpy ride as a fan but entertaining. They are still only two games behind the Braves for the best record in NL. And I think you could say that the Braves, Mets, Padres are more talented than this roster top to bottom.
Great performance by Kershaw!
Seven shutout innings to give the bullpen a break.
He is a great Dodger and the best pitcher of this century.
Every game he pitches is a treat for baseball fans.
Thanks Clayton!
I would like to see a vote to see how many on this site would like to replace Roberts
I for one, do not think he is the problem, and wouldn’t see any advantage in replacing him.
But I see no problem in being critical of him when I think he’s made a mistake.
There was talk earlier in the comments about Mookie and others with 300 Million plus contracts that don’t seem to be panning out. And the evidence shows that most of these large contracts never pay off
Yes, there are those who want to give Ohtani $500 million plus…..?????
Tulsa lost 9-5 as Arkansas scored 9 in the 4th. Seven of those were charged to River Ryan. Gauthier was 3-5 with a double and a triple, Ramos was 4-5 all singles, and Cody Hoese was 3-4 with 2 runs scored. Great Lakes lost 7-2 and only had 3 hits. As of right now, Rancho down 3-2 in the 9th inning with one out, the bases loaded and Kyle Nevin at the plate. Nevin singled scoring all three runners and then he scored on an error by the pitcher and another by the catcher. 7-3 Rancho in the bottom of the 9th. Rancho scored 6 times in the top of the 9th. Lucas Wepf pitches a perfect 9th and Rancho wins, the only affiliate to do that tonight.