Dodgers’ Dave Roberts On Corey Seager’s Health, The World Series, And More

The Dodgers will face the Astros in the 2017 World Series. Los Angeles is currently on a 29-year World Series drought, and the Astros are still looking for their first World Series victory.

Dave Roberts caught up with the media on Monday to discuss everything from Corey Seager and potential roster changes, to how Clayton Kershaw is preparing behind the scenes.

Here are some of the highlights, compliments of SportsNetLA!

On any potential changes to the 25-man roster:

There’s a couple things were sorta talking through. Obviously with Corey, the addition of Corey, the three games potentially in Houston with the D.H., how we’re going to use the catchers, sort of what makes sense in this particular series. Outside of Corey, right now, we still have a little bit more time to kind of figure it out.

On whether or not Corey Seager is healthy:

Obviously you’ve got to trust the player, but we also have to trust our eyes and the medical staff and Corey is going to do everything he can to lobby to be active and play in the World Series. And I know that, he knows that. To have Charlie Culberson and some other guys that we know that can play short if something does go south on us, we’re definitely cognizant of that. But to have the D.H. potential also because I think that, from the training staff, swinging the bat really doesn’t pose a problem it’s more of the bending over. So he’s going to take aggressive ground balls today and we’re going to put eyes on him again… Unless something really unforeseen happens I just don’t see how he won’t be active for us, but it is nice though that we have the depth that we have.

On what it means to be in the World Series and what he thinks about the Astros:

I think that obviously we’re excited about this opportunity but we’re four wins away from accomplishing our goal… We’ve taken care of what we had to to get to this point. We still have a very focused group and a lot of work to be done.

Very good ball club. Very well coached. It’s a forward-thinking organization. They’ve got a lot of talent. They can pitch. They can slug. They’ve just got a lot of athleticism so to kind of prepare for a team like that poses some problems, but I like our guys to.

On Andre Ethier and how he’s integrated himself into the mix:

With Andre, it’s been a very difficult two seasons… As frustrated as he has been, he’s still managed to stay connected with his teammates. There’s a lot of banter going back and forth with him and Cody or Austin and the other guys, and just keeping those guys going… He worked really tirelessly to get back. And even when he wasn’t starting, when he was sort of getting back, he just said he just wants to be apart of this, in any way, shape, or form… He earned that opportunity to be on the postseason roster.

On Clayton Kershaw behind the scenes:

I think the fans get cheated on not getting the opportunity to see him in between starts because I think that we as fans can appreciate him every fifth day and the energy and emotion and the success that he’s had on the field. But to see him behind the scenes and to watch him work so diligently with detail every single day. That’s something that, for me, I marvel at.

On what he’s most proud of:

I think what I’m most proud of, and I think the coaches can say the same thing, is the way that we’ve really kept our focus on each day… We play a certain way and at a certain intensity and it’s not easy… For me, the biggest win is we’ve been consistent with that all year long.

Check out everything else Dave Roberts had to say here!