MLB WORLD SERIES: DODGERS VS BLUE JAYS

October 27, 2025

Dave Roberts

Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. What does it say about Mookie, not just as a player, but as a person now that he's now a Roberto Clemente Award winner?

DAVE ROBERTS: Well, this is a huge honor. I think every athlete will say they're people first and playing baseball is what he does for a living. But a humanitarian award like this and to be recognized, to get this Roberto Clemente Award is quite the achievement. Give Mookie, I give Bri, his wife, a lot of credit, their foundation. To be able to balance and prioritize on the field performance with off-the-field impact is pretty amazing, and I think he's the fourth Dodger to ever receive this award, so just tip of the cap to Mookie.

Q. You guys were able to beat Max in early August, but he did go almost a hundred pitches six innings. Are you comfortable with what you've done so far in this series in terms of your at-bats to maybe get to him a lot earlier than what you did in that particular game? It seems he's been the most susceptible to getting beat early in games.

DAVE ROBERTS: You know, that's sort of what people say, I guess, is Max has had some struggles early. But this guy's a great competitor. He's going to make pitches. I think the key for all of us is there's just got to be relentless at-bats 1 through 9. And he's going to look for spots to sort of catch his breath, manage his pitch count, but do I believe that if we can continue to stress him, keep having him make pitches, he's going to revert to the secondaries, the slider, the curveball when it gets hot, and we just got to be willing to kind of grind him. If we can do that, I like our chances.

But again, we've got a tough task. He's a big game pitcher and he knows our guys as well as we know him.

Q. What ultimately led you to want to keep Pages in center, and what could he do better, especially against some of the fastballs he's been seeing?

DAVE ROBERTS: I actually think the last couple games he's taken better at-bats. We all talk about the 3-2 chase with the bases loaded in the first game, but I think in totality the at-bats have been better. I think for me, I just want to see him continue to fight and compete against Max. I want to keep betting on him. I'm not saying that it's in perpetuity, but tonight I'm going to bet on him until I don't.

But do I think that the outfield defense matters, and I think he's playing good outfield defense in center field and the work has been good, his head has been good. I think the demeanor, the mindset, is still consistent for me to bet on him.

Q. Just to clarify, the comment yesterday about --

DAVE ROBERTS: Oh, Jack. I shouldn't have said intent. I love Canada. I made the mistake of saying intent. It was a long day, a long trip. I'm very grateful to be in the World Series. And I shouldn't have said intent. It was my apologies sincerely.

Q. And then with Tyler, just how have you seen his confidence grow, especially after these first two starts he's had in the postseason? And when you guys talk about wanting him to be in that kind of compete mode mindset, is this as much as you've seen him in your guys' time having him?

DAVE ROBERTS: It is. It is. I think that in big games, some people are cerebral, mechanical, some people are feel people. I think with Tyler, I do think that he's throwing his best -- playing his best baseball now. I do believe because he is just focused on the compete, the here and now, making pitches. That's what you need in the postseason. To your question, I do feel like that's where he's at right now.

Q. Congratulations. How do you keep your club from just taking it one game, one pitch, one inning at a time when there is so much that's at stake?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think that's sort of the secret sauce in how we've been able to sustain success is getting it to the micro. It just alleviates a lot of expectation, pressure, stress if you can just get to the pitch, to the play, and not get ahead of yourself.

So honestly, I just think that's who we are, that's how we're wired, and appreciating that there's still noise outside, but we're pretty micro in how we go about a particular day.

Q. Defensively you guys looked really sharp Game 2. How do you continue to keep that momentum and keep that focus in that way today and throughout the rest of the series?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think kind of dovetailing on the previous question is just focus on today. Max is going to come after us. John's going to exhaust his bullpen. Those hitters are going to compete their tails off to beat us. We've got to match that intensity today. And that's all we're in control of today, and that's how we prepare.

Q. Dodger fans assured to loudly jeer George Springer tonight. You remember 2017. What message, if any, do you hope he hears tonight?

DAVE ROBERTS: That's up to the fans. Heck of a player. Having a great postseason. Dodger fans have a long memory and that's what makes 'em great. I'm just going to manage the game, and I'm not in the stands, so they can do whatever they feel is going to help the club win.

Q. Your relationship with Don Mattingly, he preceded you here, such a favorite of baseball people around the world. Are you guys friends? Have you known each other over the years? Tell us about your relationship. And of course, you know the story, you have won World Series as a player, as a manager, and for him it's the first time. I know you don't want him to win the World Series --

DAVE ROBERTS: I don't.

Q. Is there a part of you that is glad that he's finally made it this far?

DAVE ROBERTS: We're friendly. We haven't spent a whole lot of time together. I've got the utmost respect for Don. You're not going to meet a better person, a higher integrity character person. He's been very additive to that staff, and I'm sure he's helped John in many ways.

Yeah, I marvel at his humility, his baseball knowledge, and certainly the track record on the field and as a coach. But I have a lot of respect for him.

Q. Also, just a quick follow-up. You've known people who have been great players, I mean, they're Hall of Famers who never make it into the World Series. Can you appreciate that drive even though he's not going to be in as a player, that he's finally here?

DAVE ROBERTS: Absolutely. And I would argue that as a coach, it can be more fulfilling. I say that because you impact a lot more people in that role versus just yourself. So it's definitely different than playing, but I'm sure Don's impact on that clubhouse has -- there's some correlations to their success, for sure.

Q. In your five World Series now as manager here, you've had different sort of styles of teams, early ones where you had to platoon a lot, last year a lot of bullpening, this year a lot of starting. Which has been the sort of biggest challenge for you as a manager to get through these games?

DAVE ROBERTS: You know what? I think that it's like all things, you sort of have to adjust, you have to grow, learn, and I think that me, the coaches, the front office have done a great job in sort of in totality trying to figure out what's the best -- how is the best way to win 11 games or this year 13 games in October, and whether it's, you know, starting pitching, it's bullpens, it's having platoon advantages. And so all that stuff we've built a roster where we don't have as many platoon advantages and, you know, we won it last year with bullpening because that's where we were at, but the starting pitching has certainly been paramount this postseason.

I think we've grown together. I think that it's been fun for me, and I certainly have evolved. I have. Some of it is roster-driven, but also a lot of it is experience and some of the successes and the failures that I've had in the postseason.

Q. We have Glasnow tonight, Ohtani tomorrow. What were the factors to set up this order, and is there any chance that we could see Ohtani play for another start in this series, considering he's not going to be able to --

DAVE ROBERTS: I think we just wanted to stay with the same pitching rotation as we did in the CS. And then I don't see Shohei starting another game in the series, though.

Q. Hideo Nomo is throwing out the first pitch tonight. What do you remember about him as a teammate?

DAVE ROBERTS: Very great worker, warrior. He had the country of Japan on his shoulders. Great teammate. Loved baseball. Loved his teammates. Very intentional about his work. I'm very fortunate to say he was a teammate and a friend of mine. So I'm looking forward to seeing him. I think that's great that we've got him throwing the first pitch tonight.

Q. Are you going to encourage him to throw from the full windup?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, I want to see that tornado windup and throw the split. Whatever he wants to do, I just -- I don't think he will, but that would be pretty cool.

Q. That here and now mindset from a pitcher like Tyler, how does that lend itself to a team that doesn't strikeout a lot and there will inevitably be traffic on the bases?

DAVE ROBERTS: You know, I think that just because they don't strikeout doesn't mean there's going to be a ton of traffic. I think that, you know, it's just be on the attack. It's an aggressive team. They do put the ball in play. But I think that when Tyler's not trying to be too fine, not getting into mechanics and just staying in compete mode, again, I just think that that's the best version of him. But it's going to be a good test today. These guys are hungry and they're good.