Summary:
- Dave Roberts explains that the Dodgers’ offense has cooled off recently after a strong start, noting that hitting in baseball is naturally cyclical.
- He denies over-reliance on home runs, but admits the team is not executing in key situations and is struggling with consistency and timing across the lineup.
- He emphasizes that several key hitters are below their usual standards and believes the group will eventually rebound through steady work and better situational execution.
Reporter: pretty much in every major offensive category, it's kind of felt a little like this to me. What do you kind of make of where the offense is right now?
Dave: I think, Yeah, I mean, I don't think we're collectively, you know, swinging the bats the way
We were early. Sort of started in Colorado, I think. But yeah, you know, it's one of those things where baseball, hitting is definitely cyclical and you know, yeah, in total.We're at the top or near the top. But you know the last ten days it just hasn't been synced up. And yeah, we just haven't got those hits when we need it.
Reporter: Do you feel you are a little too homer dependent?
Dave: No, I don't think so. I think that you know, we still lead the league in batting average.
So I don't think so.
Reporter: Is there a reason the stars haven't really gotten going for you offensively. A lot of these guys have numbers below their career norm?
Dave: Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's still, you know, it's, I mean, obviously, you know, it's a long season as we all know. You'd like everyone to get off to a good start, but yeah a lot of guys are
not performing to their, you know, back of the baseball card. So you just hope that the work and consistency of work will show benefits and it'll balance out at some point.
Reporter: Does his performance offensively feel similar to the one last night in which you felt like guys just were unable to execute in a key situations?
Dave: Yeah, we're just not getting a whole lot of opportunities. And then obviously with Alcantara, he's one of the best in the National League. And so those opportunities, certainly today, you would expect, hard to come by. But yeah, you know, situationally we can be better.
Reporter: I think when you guys are kind of at your best, you guys kind of really wear down the starting pitcher. It looks really laborious. How do you get you know I think where you guys went through stretches like this last year. How do you get that to look like it is when it's good for you guys?
Dave: Well, you know, I mean, I think to be quite honest, you know, these guys don't push their starters very much in this particular series. The other guy Junk went four innings, I think and you know you get Sandy out after six, that's doing a job. And they, these guys in particular do a really good job of just kind of matching up as much as I can and I think in this particular series, it wasn't about beating the starter, I thought we got to the starter as far as getting him out of the game, but yeah, I mean, opportunities, I think and just kind of the overarching is they're just not as many opportunities as there were early in the season. And so then with that, you just got
you gotta be more, you gotta be better at the other stuff, the little things, getting guys over, getting them in when you get opportunities to kind of build some type of momentum as well as not hitting homers if you're not doing that.
Reporter: Down to the way we were talking last night, guys just not having a plan?.
Dave: I think it's a combo. I think some guys in a particular situation I don't think have a plan, a clear plan of what they're trying to accomplish. And in other senses, guys are just not kind of where they want to be mechanically. So I think it's and a lot of times it's a combo of both.
Reporter: They showed in flashes, but not collectively as a group, as of yet, what kind of approach do you need to see the change from the top of your order specifically?
Dave: Yeah, I just think right now, Freddie's not feeling good. He's not swinging well.
I think Shohei's back. I think he's swinging the bat well. I think Will is trying to find his way. He's still taking competitive at bats. I think Tucker's starting to find his way as far as putting the barrel on the ball. You know, Teo's kind of finding his way and Andy’s kind of cooled off a little bit. So, Muncy has been great. So yeah, I think just kind of in general. We're just not all, you know, there's more guys that aren't going well right now than that are.
Reporter: You guys lost your final challenge when Alex Call challenged the pitch there in the sixth inning. Did you have a strong feeling one way or the other about it?
Dave: Yeah, I think you know, it's hard to have one challenge left in the fourth inning or whatever it is, and you put yourself behind the eight ball and you know if you're gonna challenge and it was a leverage-y-ish spot as far as the at bat important but you know you, I'd like to think you're going to get those right and, you know, obviously when you look back it wasn't a good challenge. All right, thanks.
