LOS ANGELES \u2014 Sportswriters love to nitpick. Today\u2019s version of that was the barrage of questions that Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts got about his team\u2019s \u201cslow\u201d start at the plate.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers have won games this week without looking like the fully humming version of their offense yet, but Roberts did not sound the least bit panicked about that before Wednesday\u2019s series finale against Cleveland. If anything, he sounded like a manager who sees a group pressing through the usual early-season noise while still doing enough things right to trust that the breakout is coming. Roberts acknowledged the results have been slow, but he also made it clear he thinks the quality of the at-bats has been better than the surface numbers suggest.<\/p>\n
Intent, Yes. Results, No<\/p>\n
That was really the theme of his comments. Roberts said, \u201cI think the intent is there. The results haven\u2019t been there. I think that we\u2019ve hit the ball a little bit better than our results have shown. I think that it certainly gets more magnified early, as we all know. So I think it\u2019s just kind of stay the course.\u201d He added that the Dodgers were trying to give hitters a little room to breathe before the finale, saying, \u201cWe\u2019re giving guys off the field today. No batting practice on the field. So giving guys time to reset a little bit, just kind of work on their routines in the cage. We\u2019re going to break out at some point, but it is nice to know that other guys, Andy [Pages], Max [Muncy], Will [Smith], will swing the bat well. We are getting some timely hitting.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sounded like a pretty fair snapshot of where the Dodgers are right now. The lineup has not fully clicked from top to bottom, but it also has not looked lost. There have been stretches of hard contact, some deep counts, some walks, and enough big swings in the right spots to keep the offense from feeling stalled out. Roberts seemed to be drawing a line between \u201cslow\u201d and \u201cbad,\u201d and in his view, those are not the same thing.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s Up with Ohtani?<\/p>\n
A big part of that conversation, of course, centered on Shohei Ohtani, who going into Wednesday night\u2019s game was still looking for his first home run of the season. When asked about Ohtani\u2019s offensive start and whether it fits into that same category of better process than results, Doc gave a pretty revealing answer \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t think that I\u2019m seeing him miss a lot of good pitches to hit. I think they\u2019re understandably pitching him very carefully and I do like the way he\u2019s being selective and taking walks when they\u2019re given. There hasn\u2019t been a whole lot of hard contact because I do think that they\u2019re just not making a whole lot of mistakes with him. But that will come, and I think for me I would just preach patience and trust that the guys behind him will figure some things out.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is the sort of answer Dodgers fans will probably understand right away. Ohtani has already reached the point where opposing pitchers treat every plate appearance like a hazard. Roberts made it sound less like Ohtani is off and more like pitchers are being extremely careful, which puts more pressure on the hitters behind him to cash in those opportunities. Even so, Roberts liked what he was seeing from Ohtani\u2019s approach. He said Ohtani is \u201cdoing a good job\u201d and added, \u201cI think this year\u2019s been as good as he\u2019s been up to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ohtani vs. Bonds?<\/p>\n
Roberts even had a little fun with the question of Ohtani\u2019s patience. Asked where he falls on the patience scale compared with someone like Barry Bonds, Roberts said Bonds was on another level entirely, but he still made it clear that Ohtani is in a good place mentally at the plate right now. Then came one of the better lines from the presser. When asked if Ohtani would go crazy if he started drawing walks at an even more absurd clip, Roberts laughed and said, \u201cYeah, I do. Sho likes. Sho go crazy. Short answer, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The broader point Roberts kept coming back to was that early-season struggles always get louder coverage than they deserve. He knows why it happens. He also thinks it is mostly nonsense. \u201cIt\u2019s completely unfair. I see where it comes from. There\u2019s going to be guys that we\u2019re talking about that are off to slow starts, and then a series later the article is going to be he\u2019s off to a hot start. It could change in two days. So, it\u2019s certainly overblown. I completely understand it. But the guys that have been around a long time understand that you can\u2019t let that affect you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Verdict<\/p>\n
The patience that Roberts describes is probably the smartest way to look at this Dodgers offense after the first handful of games. The lineup is too talented, too deep, and too experienced for anyone around the club to start acting like a week of mixed results means something is broken. Roberts is watching the same games everyone else is, and he clearly believes the foundation is there. Doc sees intent. And he sees selectivity. He sees some hitters already starting to lock in. He sees enough timely hitting to keep winning while the rest catches up.<\/p>\n
And that last part matters. A slow start at the plate becomes a much bigger story when a team is losing every night and searching for answers. That is not what is happening here. The Dodgers have been doing just enough offensively while waiting for the lineup to really erupt, and Roberts sounds like a manager who expects that shift sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n
So yes, the Dodgers have been a little slow out of the gate at the plate. Roberts admitted as much. But he also made clear that there is a big difference between a lineup that is scuffling and a lineup that is about to get rolling. From his point of view, this still looks like the second one.<\/p>\n
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