Dodgers: Dave Roberts Struggling with Not Communicating with Players

Doc isn't thrilled with not being able to talk to his players this offseason due to the MLB lockout.

Dodgers fans love to argue over the abilities of manager Dave Roberts. Something that no one can argue about is Roberts’ ability to form strong bonds with his players. Roberts is major reason why the Dodgers have had some of the best team chemistry in MLB.

Due to the ongoing MLB lockout, Roberts, along with the rest of the Dodgers organization, cannot communicate with the players. Roberts admitted that this offseason has been “different”.

“It’s been different, certainly with the lockout. This is a time where I really connect with the players and try to get the vibe of how things are going, talk to them about Spring Training and how their offseason is going. Right now we can’t talk to the players, so that’s been different. Connected with the coaches and front office guys, so I’m certainly getting antsy.”

It’s safe to assume that Roberts would love to have the opportunity to get direct updates from a trio of injured players: Max Muncy, Dustin May, and Edwin Ríos.

Muncy is recovering from a torn UCL that he suffered in the last game of the season. The injury kept Muncy out of the entire postseason.

Dustin May underwent Tommy John surgery last May and has been throwing since November. Like the rest of us, all Roberts has to go off of is a seven second video from May’s Twitter account. 

Slowly but surely 🐢 #80poo pic.twitter.com/9Ojb1mfWiD

— Dustin May (@d_maydabeast) February 2, 2022

That being said, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that an anonymous Dodgers employee could check-in on Muncy, May, Rios and the rest of the Dodgers.

Either way, Roberts would prefer to be making those calls and texts himself.