{"id":949,"date":"2016-10-05T22:29:25","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T02:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=949"},"modified":"2016-10-05T22:29:25","modified_gmt":"2016-10-06T02:29:25","slug":"dave-roberts-deserves-manager-year-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2016\/10\/05\/dave-roberts-deserves-manager-year-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Roberts Deserves Manager of the Year Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dave Roberts Deserves Manager of the Year Award<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fall is in the air, which can only mean one thing: October baseball. “Black Monday” saw a number of managers part ways with their now-former teams, mutually or otherwise, while other managers were busy finalizing their playoff rosters. Dave Roberts<\/a><\/strong>, the first-year manager of the\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers<\/strong>, fell into the latter category, and for good reason. Roberts helped guide his team through a plethora of injuries, alleviated alpha egos, and instilled a culture of team success over individual accolades from the get-go.<\/p>\n

Dealing with Injuries<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If one were to go back to\u00a0Spring Training<\/strong> and tell Roberts all the injuries his team would incur\u00a0during this season, not even he would believe that his team would go on to win the\u00a0National League West<\/strong>. Clayton Kershaw<\/strong><\/a> spent 75 days on the disabled list and missed 13 starts.\u00a0Andre Ethier<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>missed almost the entire season due\u00a0to a leg injury suffered during Spring Training. Rookie pitcher\u00a0Kenta Maeda<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>was the only\u00a0starting pitcher not to miss a start, or spend time on the disabled list. Overall, they placed a record 28 players on the disabled list. They used 15 different starting pitchers, many of whom were rookies, and 54 different players.<\/p>\n

Despite all these injuries, Roberts was able to change his game plan and help his team win. The bullpen proved to be a great relief. Rather than have his starters go six or seven innings, he would have them go four or five and turn the ball over to the pen.<\/p>\n

The lineup varied immensely and daily. Players were asked to play different positions to help out the team. During a stretch in August,\u00a0Howie Kendrick<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>started at four different positions in four straight games. It made no difference;\u00a0Roberts had connected with his club and ingrained a “grinder” mentality to get his team to win, and the players jumped on board.<\/p>\n

Placing Egos by the Wayside<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When Ethier went down prior to the season, the Dodgers were left without a lead off hitter. Roberts summoned veteran\u00a0Chase Utley<\/strong><\/a>, a perennial three or four hitter during his days with the\u00a0Philadelphia Phillies<\/strong>, to his office\u00a0and asked him if he would fill the void. Utley immediately accepted. He went on to lead the lineup behind him, setting the example for youngsters\u00a0Corey Seager<\/a><\/strong>, Joc Pederson<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0and\u00a0Trayce Thompson<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of how to play the game.<\/p>\n

Along with upper management, Roberts also made it known that attitude problems would not be tolerated. Outfielder\u00a0Yasiel Puig<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>was sent down to\u00a0Triple-A Oklahoma City<\/strong> after the team failed to trade him by the deadline due to clubhouse disturbances. They did so in the hopes that it would humble him, and for the most part, it worked. After a month of riding overnight buses and living the life of a minor leaguer, they called Puig back up to join the 40-man roster in September. Over the final month of the season, Puig’s attitude was noticeably changed. He hit .281 with four home runs and\u00a0a .900 OPS. Puig was finally on board with the idea of team over individual performance.<\/p>\n

Team over Individual Performance<\/strong><\/h3>\n

During the first week of the season, pitcher\u00a0Ross Stripling<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>took a no hitter into the eighth inning against the San Francisco Giants<\/strong> in his major league debut. He was coming off Tommy John<\/a>\u00a0surgery<\/strong> and the team had already set a maximum 100 pitch count for him. After walking a batter in the eighth inning, Roberts pulled the young right-handed pitcher. The Dodgers ultimately lost the game and Roberts admitted that it was a tough decision, but would make the same call again. Little did he know he would be faced with a similar decision later in the season, but he stuck true to his word.<\/p>\n

During the final month of the season,\u00a0Rich Hill<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>had a perfect game through seven innings against the Miami Marlins<\/strong>. Hill had already missed over a month\u00a0with blisters on his throwing hand, and they began to flair up during the game. When he stepped into the dugout after retiring the side in the seventh, a mere six outs away from a perfect game, Roberts informed him that he would not be returning for the eighth inning. After the game, Roberts said that they would rather have him in the postseason than allow him to finish the game, potentially injuring himself along the way. Hill will be starting game two of the National League Division Series\u00a0<\/strong>on Saturday against the\u00a0Washington Nationals<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The way that Roberts was able to get his team to rally past\u00a0the injuries, set aside their egos, and embrace the team culture propelled the Dodgers into the playoffs. They won their fourth-straight division title, but don’t want to stop there. It’s time to bring a\u00a0World Series Championship\u00a0<\/strong>back to\u00a0Los Angeles<\/strong> for the first time since 1988.<\/p>\n

Should the one game play-in Wild Card be expanded to a three game series?<\/a> in LastWordOnSports’s Hangs<\/a> on LockerDome<\/a><\/span>