Dodgers News: Betts, Freeman and Others Have Stepped Out of Comfort Zone in Leadership Roles
There's a lot more to baseball than just numbers.
Yeah, you can definitely look at OPS+, ERA+, and BABIP in order to get a decent reason as to whether or not a player could succeed with your team, but at the heart of it, there's also a human element to baseball and all professional sports.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are doing well. They have a 10-game lead in the NL West, hold the second-best record in the entire league, and will play a big part in the postseason just over a month from now.
But it wasn't always that way this season.
The Dodgers were as far back as third in their division in June, and things needed to change quickly if the team hoped to be playoff contenders -- and even secure a spot in the postseason.
That's where the team's veterans stepped up.
LA has an eclectic mix of young talent and veterans that have been through the ropes, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised the latter for taking on leadership roles.
“I would say Mookie (Betts), Freddie (Freeman), Jason (Heyward), (Miguel) Rojas have probably been the guys that have taken a step maybe out of their comfort zone to make sure everyone is buying in to what we’re doing.”
Dave Roberts pregame on Wednesday, per SportsNet LA
And as for when that started to happen? That came right when the team needed it -- when the Dodgers lost a three-game series to the American League basement dwelling Kansas City Royals, and it's been a domino effect since.
“I heard a little incident where Jason called a player out and said, ‘We don’t do things this way,'” Roberts said. “Rojas, after we got our butts handed to us in the Kansas City series, got the guys together in a hitters meeting and addressed how we need to do the little things, play with more urgency. I appreciated that. Jason Heyward getting pinch-hit after hitting a three-run homer in Baltimore and not saying a peep. Lance Lynn coming along and T take the ball from the fifth inning and he says, ‘Whatever you need, I’ll be ready to go my next turn.’ And so those things that we get veteran guys that do that, everyone has to follow.”
via SportsNet LA
Now LA looks the part of a World Series contender, and Roberts appreciates the way the franchise operates when looking for what type of players to bring in -- and it's factors beyond just their numbers.
“We’ve raised the bar on not only talent, but also character in our organization. And I like the way that the bar has been raised.”
via SportsNet LA
And it's that mix of talent and character that may just lead LA to their first World Series title in three years this fall.
