NL DIVISION SERIES: BRAVES VS DODGERS

October 6, 2026

Miguel Rojas

Truist Park

Los Angeles Dodgers

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. Miggy, it hasn't been long since you guys saw Chris Sale, being here in August. What did you learn from him in that outing? What is the biggest challenge of facing a guy like him?

MIGUEL ROJAS: Yeah, today we know we're in for a battle. We know it's not going to be a quick one. We know we're going to have to execute. And I think overall, our team thinks we have the talented group on this side that is able to make adjustments to what he did the last time to us.

Obviously throwing a complete game against a team like us is never easy. But we're facing a really good pitcher that's been doing it for a long time.

We know that we were going to face Chris, maybe once, twice, out of the bullpen. We were ready for it. So here today we're ready to make adjustments of our last time. And definitely it's going to come out who executes the plan better, and hopefully we can get a big hit today.

Q. How much did you guys go back and review that game the last couple of days? Was there anything, like, when you faced somebody that recently and he had that much success against you that changes the prep process going into this one from a normal postseason game for you guys?

MIGUEL ROJAS: Well, the thing with Chris is he's not going to change much. We know what he's going to feature. We know his stuff, and it comes down to execution of that day.

It can be a good day for our offense or a really tough day. But regardless whatever it is, we'll be ready for a battle. Like I said, it's not going to be a quick one. We are going to have to fight every pitch, every out. And that's what we're in for.

Knowing that you're facing a guy that you have a lot of history in the room with, especially our guys being in the league for so long and kind of getting the opportunity to face him over and over, I think that's what we're counting on and we're hanging our hat on that experience that we have against him over the years.

It's not just the last game. We're going back to all the at-bats that we have against him in different part of his career, because there's some days that you face Chris throwing 99, 100 miles per hour like we did the last time. There's days he's going to spin more and he's going to go to the other part of his arsenal.

We've got to wait to play the game to see how it's going to come out because it doesn't matter how much you prepare, you just have to go to the game and react and kind of make adjustments in game because you don't know if he's going to be throwing 100 or he's going to be throwing more spin balls, he's going to go to the change-up, who knows. But we've just got to be ready for a fight.

Q. Tell us about your side trip to Miami last week. Were you nervous taking the citizenship test? And what's the next steps for you?

MIGUEL ROJAS: I wasn't nervous because I was prepared. That's what I always kind of live my life by -- if you prepare, you don't have to be nervous. I felt like I was ready for it.

I didn't know what to expect because it's kind of like my first time going into a conference room with an official and kind of like do something that I've never done in my life. But at the end of the day I knew all the hundred questions and I knew the answers. I was ready for it. I passed my test, and I'm pretty close to being a U.S. citizen.

The process is not complete yet because they have to review a couple of things on my form and due to so many days that I've been out of the country the last couple of years.

But at the end of the day it's something that makes me feel really special, really proud because of my family, because of my kids, because of what I've been doing the last 21 years in this country.

This country opened their doors to me to be a professional baseball player. And I took that opportunity as a life opportunity as well.

And I don't take it for granted because Miami's been home for me. The last 15 years I've been living there. I've been doing everything that an American does. And now that I'm pretty close to being an American citizen, it's a good feeling.

Q. Going back to Sale, you talk about it being a long battle with him. How difficult is it to maintain that, like, as a lineup, as a team, pitch to pitch, like the level of focus that you need to be able to break through against a guy like that over the course of a game, even in October?

MIGUEL ROJAS: For us right now, it's what we're here for. We put ourselves in this situation that all we have to do is play hopefully 15 or 14 more games and win 10 of them.

But we can't really think about that. We can't really think too far ahead. We have to think today, what do we have to do today on every pitch, to win every pitch.

And then at the end of the day you just have to kind of live with the consequences of being present on this moment and facing him, not thinking about who is going to come out of the bullpen after, or how we're going to attack the bullpen if we attack this guy early, or who we're going to face for three innings again.

It's all about going inning by inning and read and react to situations and be better on guys in scoring positions, moving guys over. I think our game is way more broader than just the home run, and we all know that in our locker room.

I know the last couple of games it's been just a homer to score a run, but we believe that we are definitely better than that, and we're looking forward to get that big hit tonight.

Q. What makes Yoshinobu Yamamoto so different in October?

MIGUEL ROJAS: It's a mindset. He wants to be great, and every time he takes the ball -- the last two years he's been taking the ball in October he's been one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. And his confidence in his ability to repeat his routines every single time, regardless if it's a game in April or a game in October, I think it prepares him for these moments.

You don't see a guy who changes a lot between a start in mid-May and these starts in October, last year. It was pretty cool to see him kind of like keeping his composure and kind of like do the same thing over and over, regardless of what day of the season it was.

Q. Obviously you talked about contemplating retirement and stuff. How do you feel going into this one? Obviously a big game where it can swing the series here.

MIGUEL ROJAS: I'm not thinking about that at all. I'm not thinking about my future or anything. I'm thinking about a player who is hitting sixth today in the lineup to help the team win. And I still feel like I can play the game.

In regards to my retirement or stepping away from the game, I will never think about stepping away from the game because of my performance or my way to play my game. I think there's other things in life that I'm contemplating about that decision. But if I have to tell you right now, I'm not 100 percent like Kershaw was last year or others in the past that knew for sure they want to go after this year.

For me it's more, I would say it's a 40/60 right now that I want to stay in the game and I want to play.

But it's not about me. It's about the organization. It's about doing what we're supposed to do to help the team win this year. And then after that we will have conversations.

But at the end of the day, personally, I'm not thinking about that at all. I'm thinking about being another player on the team and helping the team win until I have to (indiscernible).

Q. The person or the people administering the citizenship test, do they know who you are, what you do for work? Did they watch the World Series?

MIGUEL ROJAS: We started the conversation talking about obviously my background and all that. She asked me who I worked for. And I said Los Angeles Dodgers. And she looked up and kind of looked at me and said, oh, my husband, he's a big baseball fan and he's following.

I think at that time that was when she figured out that I was a baseball player. But I don't really know if she knew who I was or what happened last year or anything like that.

I actually wanted it to be that way because I didn't want to have any kind of preference or anything because this process has nothing to do with baseball. I felt like, as a citizen, as a human being, I always wanted to be a good person off the field and not let my performance influence anything, because we all know how hard this game can be and how high you can be and how low you can be one day. I don't want to be judged by my performance on the field. I want to be judged by the person I am and my preparation.

So I feel like I did good because I got the 100 percent on all the eight questions that they asked me. So I'm proud of myself because of that, not too much about the home run or the World Series that I have or the rings that I have.

There's things in life that are bigger than just baseball.

Q. I know you guys have prioritized spending time as a team together this year, and it is still technically early in this series. But when you all look now being 1-1, what are the conversations amongst the group as you prepare for today, just when it comes to the camaraderie and getting back on track and getting back to who you guys are, whether at the plate or as a team as a whole?

MIGUEL ROJAS: I think, to be honest with you, we've been playing really good baseball. These last two games we played clean baseball. We put ourselves in a situation to win both of the games. And obviously we just scored two runs on the last game.

But at the end of the day we feel really confident about the group that we have and the way we've been playing. So it's been a really good two games in October so far, and we are 1-1. So a lot of people maybe think that, oh, because we lost that game and the Braves threw a bullpen, that doesn't mean anything.

We won a World Series in 2024 throwing, like, three or four bullpen games in the series and we were able to do it. We went to a Game 5, elimination game with a bullpen game against the Padres, and we won that game.

So nothing is guaranteed in baseball. Nothing is guaranteed in this sport that you have to win. All we know is that we have winning the series, winning two more games, but it's all about today. It's all about going out there today, giving us the best opportunity to win. And we feel really confident with the talent that we have and with Yoshinobu on the mound.