How many more seasons can this go on? Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ reckless approach to his pitching staff continues to prevent his team from winning. He repeatedly replaces on-the-ball starters with relief pitchers who shouldn’t pitch in the MLB. His pitching errors alone were the reason Los Angeles lost two games at Detroit last weekend. This same scenario has played out countless times during his tenure, most often in the postseason.
A clear line can be drawn between the Dodgers’ postseason disappointment and the ineptitude of Roberts’ pitching staffs in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. During Roberts’ tenure, the team had the best regular season record in baseball but only one championship. Roberts continues to have problems and must resign.
Brian Gura
Redondo Beach
The Dodgers entered the All-Star break one game below .500 over the past two months, but still sit seven games back in the National League West. This is nothing to celebrate, it just reflects how weak their division rivals are. So who bears the most responsibility for this dire situation, even with the most injured players on the injured list? Andrew Friedman, of course. He built the roster poorly. He is rightly praised for acquiring Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Teoscar Hernandez. But his love for pitchers who can’t pitch a full season without injury can no longer be ignored. Most of the highly-touted pitching prospects didn’t pan out. He traded two All-Star shortstops and moved a Gold Glove-winning outfielder to the infield after he turned 30. Even if he makes a big trade (and I don’t see why another general manager would bail him out), he must take responsibility for a number of miscalculations.
William Johnson
Rochester, New York
I am really looking forward to watching all 3 games against the Red Sox. TBD is my favorite pitcher and will start all 3 games.
Elliot Powers
San Diego