Dave Roberts Says Dodgers Not Concerned About Padres Amid Hot Start

After starting the season 2-5, the San Diego Padres are tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the National League West.

The Friars have won 12 of their last 14 games, joining the back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers atop the division. The Padres have gone 6-1 against the Rockies this year. The Dodgers have gone 2-2 against Colorado.

People have started to take notice.

Don't look now, but the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers have company atop the NL West.
The San Diego Padres, winners of 11 of their last 12 games, have moved into a first-place tie with the Dodgers, each with 16-7 records.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 22, 2026

After Tuesday's Dodger game, a loss to the San Francisco Giants, manager Dave Roberts was asked if the team was in the middle of a "gut check" period with the Padres catching them in the standings.

“I don’t think anyone [on the Dodgers] is too concerned about the Padres and what they’re doing," Roberts said.

The Dodgers skipper was then asked a follow up question: Is the team not concerned about the Padres because it's early in the season, or because the Dodgers feel they have the better team?

“I just don’t think we really concern ourselves with anyone, to be quite honest," Roberts said. "And I think that’s the way we should think of things. It’s no disrespect to any team. It’s just we got to kind of keep our closet clean and just play good baseball, and it’ll take care of itself."

While the Dodgers may not be concerned with the Friars' early success in 2026, it is interesting to note that the Padres' biggest move of the offseason was retaining Michael King with a three-year, $75 million deal.

Meanwhile, the defending champions spent $240 million on top free agent of the winter, Kyle Tucker, and $69 million on closer Edwin Díaz.

The Padres and Dodgers have the same record in April. The team's early success in 2026 under first-year manager Craig Stammen is a big deal.

However, it's a long season and the Padres roster isn't exactly bulletproof just yet. The team's biggest weakness is clearly their depleted starting rotation.

The unit was already thin this spring when Joe Musgrove suffered a setback in his recovery from Tommy John recovery, which resulted in him starting the season on the injured list. That put the brunt of the workload on the remaining frontline starters, King and Nick Pivetta.

Pivetta, who was the team's ace in 2025, landed on the IL and is dealing with a flexor strain in his elbow. The replacements thus far haven't been good enough, leading the Padres to sign free agent right-handed pitcher Lucas Giolito.

Despite the current state of the starting rotation, the Padres have made it clear they are a winning team. The offense and bullpen have done a good enough job to keep up the team's winning streak early this season.

According to Manny Machado, the Padres lineup isn't even firing on all cylinders, and yet, the team is still finding ways to win.

“We’re playing good ball, and we’re not even on fire as a team offensively,” Machado said.“We can just imagine what we’re gonna do when we’re all rolling.”

The Padres' success is surely being monitored by the Dodgers, because if the Friars carry that momentum with them into October, things could get dicey for the back-to-back World Series champs.

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