96TH MLB ALL-STAR GAME

July 14, 2026

Dave Roberts

Citizen's Bank Park

National League

Press Conference

American League 4, National League 0

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Doc.

A. You never want to see someone go down in an All-Star Game. What happened with Caminero? Is part of that just the lack of pitching you had on your side that you had to throw someone in the third that usually is used to pitching in the ninth?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think it just got away from him, and trying to line pitching up for the All-Star Game when you've got starters that are starters and coming out of the pen or relievers that are used to going later in the game. I think the main thing is that I heard that the X-rays were negative, so Junior came out of it just fine. So thank goodness, and very grateful that he came out okay.

Q. Did you have a message or anything for Riley coming off the mound just given the situation?

DAVE ROBERTS: No, no, he ended up pitching a clean inning after that, and I know he was happy to know that Junior didn't have -- there was no fracture or anything like that. Yeah, it's never easy for a guy who is pitching late to pitch early and things like that.

Q. I know you're trying to get everyone into the game, but is there any reason for Sale to not pitch tonight?

DAVE ROBERTS: It was one of those things where the organization wanted us to stay away from him. And so I think he just pitched recently, and it's a lot of -- so for us, we really had ten innings of pitching, and it was partly because Wrobleski went two innings, which allowed me to break up the ninth inning. I think it was an organizational thing that they didn't want him to pitch.

Q. What did you think of Sanchez? He didn't seem to have his usual stuff.

DAVE ROBERTS: No, he didn't. You know what, I think that with Cristopher, it was very emotional for him pitching here, being a starter of the game. I don't think that -- you know, it's not a normal start, so he just wasn't as sharp with his command as he normally is. But, you know, it's one of those things that it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so it just kind of just happened that way.

Q. How important was it for you to have him start in front of the home crowd?

DAVE ROBERTS: It was great. I think having him start, having Duran finish the game -- it's the host city, and the city of Philadelphia with Major League Baseball did a fantastic job all week. And then for us to be able to get Harper in there, to lead Schwarber off, and to get Marsh in there. Honestly, we didn't win the game as far as the National League, but it was just a great production, and it was good to get everyone in there.

Q. Overall what did you think of your All-Star experience? I'm sure you're used to this by now.

DAVE ROBERTS: Used to it. Never gets old. Love the conversations with the players. Love seeing the players have conversations with each other, and that's the biggest takeaway.

Again, it's just a great experience that never gets old.

Q. What was the best moment, do you think?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think the best moment is there was about eight to ten of us, Ollie Marmol and myself, with some players just were in front of Chris Sale's locker chopping it up, talking baseball I think that was something that, you know, in this day and age where there's a lot of devices where just everyone was present. That was a lot of fun.

Q. Dave, how do you talk to the team pregame? And this is his tenth game, but the way he approaches it, he comes with his family. It means something to him. Can you talk about the way he approaches this particular game?

DAVE ROBERTS: This is Freddy?

Q. Yeah, Freddy.

DAVE ROBERTS: No. His family is everything. He does a great job being a great father, being a great husband, but also, being able to post every single day and perform at a high level for 17 years.

He's just one of my favorite people I've ever been around. He does everything the right way. I just got so much respect for him. So, yeah, in his 17th year to have one of his best seasons, pretty remarkable.

Q. For your two first-timers, Wrobleski and Pages, what was it like for them?

DAVE ROBERTS: Great for them. Andy got two at-bats, made a nice play in center field off his fellow countryman, Miguel Vargas, and then Wrobo went two innings, which was great. He was the last starter, I think, named, and he went two innings. That was very helpful.

Q. What were some of the words of encouragement that you provided to Pages and Wrobleski as they came into the situation here? I know Pages talked yesterday. He was just super excited. He had a big smile on his face. Can you just kind of talk about that?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think the number one thing is they earned it. I wanted to let them know that, to take it all in, to enjoy this moment. So much of our lives is about results and performing, and when you do perform and you get rewarded, you got to take time to appreciate it. If you don't, you're going to drive yourself mad. That was kind of the message.

Q. For the National League specifically, there was a couple of pitchers that weren't eligible to play like Skenes and Misiorowski. Do you maybe hope that the All-Star Game maybe moves a date back to have that for the game for the fans to see those talents in a game like this?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think whatever allows for the best players to be available to participate is what we should do. That's what I would hope. So however -- it's a bigger discussion, but yeah, you want the best players to be able to perform in the All-Star Game.

Q. That moment in between innings with the kids coming out on the bikes and the fireworks and them getting to meet all the players, what does that look like to you from just a wider perspective and the kids getting to meet, you know, maybe their idols out there on the field?

DAVE ROBERTS: It's fantastic. Major League Baseball did a great job with that. It was kind of like that Sandlot kind of ode. We were all one of those kids. Some of these kids might never get a chance to be on a Major League field. So for them to have that opportunity to be -- have a conversation with, you know, an All-Star is something that they might never get that chance again, right?

So it was great, and baseball is in a great place. So to have these young kids, you know, be a part of it was something special.