Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Roasts the Padres with One Short Sentence
In the eighth inning of the Dodgers 8-1 win over the Padres on Friday night, fans expected to see Freddie Freeman step up to the plate. Instead they were greeted with the 6' 2 left-handed pitcher (and batter) Tyler Anderson.
The southpaw struck out swinging and it wasn't pretty. But it very much reflected his .094 lifetime batting average. Anderson stepped in for Freeman, who leads the MLB in hits, because Padres position player, Andrew Batten stepped in to pitch so Roberts figured he would return the favor.
Watch Anderson's at-bat here:
Fans might not have thought much of the substitution but Roberts later explained his reason to OC Register’s Jim Alexander.
"No wonder Dodgers manager Dave Roberts decided he didn’t want to ‘put any of my position players up there against a softball player, a pitcher throwing an eephus ball.’"
Calling Batten a "softball player" was cold for sure but let's just look at why Roberts might have compared him to such.
He struck out Anderson on a 53.6 mph pitch that was kindly described as a "changeup: and his “slider” topped out at 57.4 mph.
The 27-year-old second baseman has pitched in two games this season, on Friday and at the beginning of July when San Diego hosted the Giants. In each game he gave up a hit in the inning he appeared on the mound.
Despite the Anderson completely missing contact with the ball, the Dodgers still pulled out an 8-1 win over the Padres who were expected to bring a little more competition with the recent addition of Soto recently.
