Dodgers News: Baseball Analyst Defends Dave Roberts Against Naysayers
If you've been a Dodgers fan for long enough, you should know that year after year, the Dodgers seem to disappoint in the postseason, but I think it's time to stop and smell the roses for a little bit.
It's not all that bad.
Any other team in the league would give it all to be as consistent as the Dodgers are in even making the postseason.
The last time the club didn't make the postseason was the same year Gangnam Style and the iPhone 5 came out in 2012!
To blame all of the postseason failures on Dave Roberts alone doesn't seem fair. After all, he can't suit up and play the game. The Athletic's Andy McCullough put it like this:
At what point does the Dodgers brass realize that they will only get so far (in a normal season) with Roberts? They fired Mattingly for less. — Robert F.
There are reasonable criticisms to be made of Dave Roberts’ managerial stylings. There are certainly tactical issues that could be cleaned up, especially in terms of bullpen deployment, in October. But to saddle that all at the feet of the manager, rather than include the front office that crafts the in-game strategy alongside the coaching staff, misses the point. These are organizational failures, rather than individual disasters....
Could he do some things better? Sure. But the Dodgers could also do a lot worse.
via The Athletic
Let's face it. There really isn't a better manager during the regular season than Dave Roberts, and the postseason is so unpredictable that the blame can't fall entirely on the manager.
Think of it this way, the 2001 Mariners won 116 games and lost to a Yankees team that didn't even win 100 games.
The game of baseball is so unpredictable it doesn't revolve around just one person, and to put all of the blame on the manager just doesn't seem right.
