NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DODGERS VS BREWERS

October 13, 2026

Dave Roberts

Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. You guys have found yourselves in a similar situation or even in an exact situation in a seven-game series. When you look at the series returning back to Los Angeles and kind of where your team is at, do you want to see them compete with either a different level of urgency or even with that thought, or I guess feeling of facing elimination, understanding that with a win this series can really swing?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, I think we are playing with urgency. We're just not -- we threw out three hits yesterday. I like the compete. We've just got to play better. I think pitching better, getting hits, scoring runs, all that stuff -- we've just got to win a game.

I'm not too concerned about the urgency. I just want to keep that intensity. It's going to be good to be at home, play in front of the home crowd, again, win a game and then go from there.

Q. Did you talk to Shohei today? Is he going to be in tomorrow?

DAVE ROBERTS: I did speak to Sho, had a great conversation. He's adamant he feels good enough to be in there. He's close to finding something with his swing. I feel great about it.

Yeah, he wants to be in there and help us win a ballgame and win a championship.

Great conversation, and I'm excited about having him in there.

Q. Ultimately, what are you seeing out of him, and what would you need to see out of him to remove him from the lineup if the struggles continue?

DAVE ROBERTS: To be clear, it was never a benching. It was more of giving him -- it's kind of what we did with Freddie in 2024. In 2024 he was ailing, wasn't feeling great; give him a couple days potentially to then reset, and he ends up winning the MVP in the World Series.

It's more of, hey, man, if you're not feeling good enough that you feel like you can perform up to your ability, then we'll pivot, give you a couple days.

And talking to him, he feels like he's close to finding something and was close yesterday in finding something mechanically. With that, I'm excited. I'm all about it. So he'll be in there.

Q. Do you feel all this talk and just his performance to this point, Dave, do you feel like he's taken this as a personal challenge to perform better than he has in the last month or so?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yes, yeah, I do. That's what I think all great players have that in the biggest moments. They expect to perform more than anyone. I do think that Shohei has taken this as a personal challenge.

But at the end of the day, it's not a one-man show. It's got to be all of us, myself included, have got to be better. So we've all got to do this together, and he's a part of this whole cog, right? That was kind of my thing is you do you, and we all got to do our part as well.

Q. We know Shohei is never going to say -- or is not the type of guy to say "I can't go." How much of it this time was -- do you think there was a little bit of a sales job on his part that he's really sincere and "I really can do this"? Did you detect a little different? You've had some of these conversations before.

DAVE ROBERTS: I would say the word I would use is conviction. He was very convicted that he is onto something mechanically. He was adamant that he can help us. He's well enough to help us win a baseball game. So that's all I needed to hear.

I've never wavered in the fact, in my belief in him. The work that he's putting in -- shoot, he squared the bunt in Game 2 to potentially get on base. That just speaks to whatever it takes to help the team win. He's always been about the team, whether it's hitting first, second, fourth, or wherever, right?

So for me, just hearing his conviction, that's what I wanted to hear.

Q. Where will you hit him tomorrow?

DAVE ROBERTS: I don't know, I think somewhere in the middle, just kind of appreciating that they're starting Gasser. So just kind of trying to figure out essentially he's going to go two times through and who they got and what lines up best for our lineup around Sho. So I haven't made that decision yet.

Q. 2 to 5, was that the range?

DAVE ROBERTS: 2 to 5 or 6, let's say. Give me a little fudge room.

Q. What have you seen out of the Brewers' approach in these first two games, and what do you need to see out of Blake Snell to really find some better results than he did in the NLDS?

DAVE ROBERTS: The Brewers' approach is -- they're fighting every pitch. They're spoiling pitches. They're spoiling fastballs late with two strikes. They have a great two-strike approach.

That's what they do. They don't get beat on spin or chase down below late, which then gives them a chance to hit flares the other way, which they've done. When you get the guys at the bottom on base, they run. That's what they do. They try to get guys in motion. They play great defense, which they've done.

Yeah, I think that's kind of what we expected. Now it's on us to go out there and best them in playing baseball.

Q. On Shohei, these last two conversations, both this past one and right before you guys put him on the IL, have you as an organization changed at all the way that you're talking to him and trying to really dig for information? It seems like, at least before the IL, you were getting more concrete answers than prior?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think before the IL it was more of trying to run the play out as much as we could until ultimately we just felt that -- and he conceded that it was probably the best thing to go on the IL and then have a week essentially to get back to playing, which we did.

Then right now, like I said, there's just complete conviction that he's onto something, and he feels like he can help us, and he can help us. For me that's all I need to hear. I know we're better with him in the lineup. Everyone knows that, that's no secret. So hearing that from him really excites me.

Q. I guess I'm just wondering are you digging more, and does that make you feel more confident that you're not just getting a cursory, knee-jerk, "Yes, I'm good" type of answer?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, I think some of my intel is from the hitting guys and them kind of echoing the same thing that Shohei is right where he needs to be, has found something, the training staff echoing the same thing. Then for me, listening to him with very, you know, confident and is saying "I want to be in there. I know I can help the team. I'm close." That's all I need to hear.

For me, honestly, I didn't feel the need to push. I heard what I needed to hear.

Q. To maybe ask that in a slightly different way, Andrew earlier this year said that Shohei maybe wasn't as always awesome at fully communicating how he was feeling with you guys or maybe not even being honest with himself about where the state of his injuries are at. What is it about what he said today that gives you guys assurance that he, for as confident as he's saying he feels, isn't even overstating to himself kind of how he feels and that he is going to be able to back up that confidence that he expressed to you guys?

DAVE ROBERTS: I just think it's one of those things that we can all kind of analyze this. I understand that's kind of your job. No one knows what's going to happen tomorrow and the ensuing days. At the end of the day in this big moment, we're listening to Shohei, and we're going to support the crap out of him and believe in him, and that's it.

It's like he can go up there and throw out four hits or no hits. It's like it doesn't change our process and how we're going about it and believing in him. At the end of the day, that's kind of dumbing it down, I guess.

Q. When he says he feels close to things clicking, were there things you saw either yesterday or the last couple days that kind of confirmed that in your evaluation as well?

DAVE ROBERTS: I just thought that in the batting practice, squaring it up more, staying more into the ground -- for me, it's just keeping his head still. Just keep your head still, see the baseball, and that's one of the cues that he's working on with the hitting guys, and just seeing it. Let the ball, let your mechanics do what they're going to do, but just keep your head still and really simplify hitting, and then be yourself.

That's the message that I got and I feel really good about. So for me, I don't know what else there is to say about that.

Q. Three or four days ago, you and Andrew both were very clear about you expect a breakout. He's ready to break out. How did it go from that to seriously considering not playing him?

DAVE ROBERTS: The seriously -- it's more of just trying to figure out at some point you feel like he's close. Hitting is hard. I just felt is it a Freddie Freeman situation where I wanted to have the conversation to say, hey, man, are you too compromised to go play and help us win? And the answer was no.

So for me, layering on that with where he was yesterday -- I thought Will Smith was close a week ago, and here we are, but I still believe that he'll figure it out. Tommy wasn't close a few days ago, in my opinion, and I thought yesterday he was great.

It's like there's no one "I've got the answer key and I've got it figured out." Hitting is hard. These are points that Andrew and I made at that moment in time. I've been wrong many times. That's what I was feeling at that point in time.

Q. We keep hearing he's injured, he's compromised physically. We're not hearing any specifics. What is he dealing with?

DAVE ROBERTS: It's everything. It's the upper body, it's the knee, and he's just not perfect. He's not. But in his words, he's ready to go.

Q. Yesterday you mentioned you expected a more locked-in, focused Snell. Is it something in between like his last time he started, his pedigree, personality-wise? What do you think?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think that the way he attacked the Braves was not who he is right now. I thought he was too fine. I thought he got behind way too many guys, was not efficient, and I think he was very upset with himself how he approached that start.

So to now get another opportunity in his home crowd, I think we're just going to see a different version.

Q. To go back to Shohei, how much can you separate or not separate the way he's feeling physically and the things he's working through with his swing right now?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think the swing is separate in the sense that he feels like he's onto something, and then the other part of it is, again, it's just the conversation. They're kind of separate, but they're tied in. At the end of the day, is he going to play or not? He's playing.

Q. Is it a matter of he just needed time to kind of figure out what he can do to work around like the things that might be limiting?

DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, I think that's fair. When it's not -- yeah, he's working through what is serviceable, manageable with his mechanics given where he's at with his overall body, yes.

Q. The last time we talked to Shohei, he said that he, quote, felt really good overall. Clearly that is no longer the case. I understand you might be hesitant to give us a specific medical diagnosis, but have you received one? Do you have a sense specifically about what is physically wrong with Shohei right now?

DAVE ROBERTS: I have a sense, but there's really -- it's the knee. I don't know the diagnosis with the knee. It's the bicep. I don't know the particular diagnosis. So that's what I do know. I haven't dug to know exactly what it is.

I don't recall the last time he did speak. I'm assuming it was when he came off the IL. So that makes sense that he feels much better, and then now playing, with time that he's played.

Q. This is not a position your team thought they were going to be in, 0-2 coming back home here. What's the message to the team knowing you guys have three important games coming up right now?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think they know. We've just got to win tomorrow. It's not the position we expected to be in. They have a very good ball club. They've earned those two wins. We've got to win tomorrow. So I don't think it's any more simple than that.

Q. Since the postseason again, has Shohei re-aggravated the knee or the arm?

DAVE ROBERTS: No, not at all, no.

Q. And what else can be done to break through against the back end of the bullpen?

DAVE ROBERTS: I think the best solution is to catch a good lead and keep those guys in the pen. But with that, you've just got to find a way to stack some good at-bats and find a way to get some outfield grass.

I don't know, they're all different, Uribe to Ashby to Hall to Megill, they're all different. So I can't really answer one specific answer. You've just got to compete against those guys. They're very good.