Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Feels Pride in 100-Win 2023 Season
Before the season, it looked like the Dodgers might fall off a little bit. On paper, it looked like the Padres were the favorites to win the West.
But, like in years past, a couple of fresh faces helped LA secure an NL West title.
Unlike the Seagers or the Bellingers of the past, these new names were relatively unknown coming into the 2023 campaign.
Names like Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan, James Outman, and Michael Grove made an incredible first impression in the bigs this season and they helped this team to yet another 100-win season, and an astonishing 10th NL West title in the last 11 years.
Here's what Dave Roberts had to say about the impact the young guys had on what was slated to be a very rough season:
“It was a tough one,” Roberts said. “In that same breath, it was my most satisfying job I think, and I speak for the coaches, as well. You look at how many young players impacted a 100-win team, rookies. And to get these guys to get up to speed, Major League speed, and be huge contributors, I’m proud of that. And I think that when you get Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan, Ryan Pepiot, James Outman, Michael Grove up here, and they’re big contributors and have to learn on the fly, that’s doing something and that’s coaching and that’s our job. So I think for us, it wasn’t ideal, we made the most of it.”
via The Show: A NY Post baseball podcast with Joel Sherman and John Heyman
Although the Dodgers seemed to overachieve this year in regards to the many opinions on how they would perform, there are still 11 wins that the team has to get when it matters most.
Postseason baseball is an entirely different animal like many fans have come to learn in the past couple of years. It's a game of streaks, and it's a game of playing the right people at the right time.
Hopefully, the outstanding play of some of these Dodgers rookies shows up in the playoffs, and the Dodgers can go all the way this year.
