The Los Angeles Dodgers are ending their six-game road trip with a rubber match against the Chicago White Sox that manager Dave Roberts will not be present for.
Roberts left the Dodgers after Saturday’s game so he could be present for his daughter’s graduation from Stanford.
“I’m really proud,” Roberts said in an interview. “It is weird, though, because you never want to miss a game. But I think that this is a good reason.”
Interim Dodgers manager Danny Lehmann
Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann once again is going fill in as interim manager. Lehmann previously did so in 2023 when Roberts attended his son’s graduation from Loyola Marymount University.
The Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres, 1-0, at Petco Park that night.
“I’d love to do it again. I thought it was a lot of fun,” Lehmann said after the win. “Obviously we had a lot of players ready to go today, as far as like workload and stuff, which is fun. And guys stepped up and pitched where they should have pitched and did really well. It made it easy on me, I guess, in a lot of ways.”
Lehmann is going to look to remain undefeated as interim Dodgers manager and help the team secure a winning record on their road trip. He’ll have a rested bullpen available thanks to Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching into the ninth inning with a no-hitter on Saturday.
Lehmann is in his fourth season as Dodgers bench coach after spending the previous three years in a game planning and communications coach role. He also held that position in 2018, but spent 2019 as a special assistant. Lehmann joined the organization in 2015 as their advance video scout.
Overall, Lehmann is in his ninth season with the Dodgers organization. He’s been the subject of managerial interest from other clubs over recent years.
At one point last offseason it appeared he was the favorite to be named the new Atlanta Braves manager. Lehmann was also reported as being in the running for the position with the Washington Nationals, but they ultimately elected to hire Blake Butera.
After the 2024 season, Lemann’s name surfaced in the White Sox’s search for a new manager before Will Venable was hired.
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