The Los Angeles Dodgers’ historic start to the 2025 season continued on Wednesday with a 6-5 walk-off win against the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium.
After winning their eighth straight game to open the year, the Dodgers passed the 1933 New York Yankees for the longest undefeated start to a season as the defending World Series champions.
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None of this should come as a surprise after the offseason the Dodgers had, but the players still have to prove themselves on the field, even if they are the best team on paper. They are playing with supreme confidence right now and that starts at the top with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
“I guess if you say that, if every single night we take the field, do I feel like we’re going to win? Yeah. So I know that the math says we’re not going to go 162-0, but each night we take the field, I feel like we’re going to win,” Roberts answered when asked if he feels like the Dodgers will never lose.
While having a place in the record books is a great honor, the value of the Dodgers getting off on a strong note goes beyond that.
“It does, it absolutely does it,” Roberts said about the Dodgers’ start to 2025. “Case in point is we can sit Freddie because these games were playing good baseball, winning baseball games, and it allows for us to manage guys in the ‘pen for down the road.
“And obviously, getting off to a good start is important in the sense of it just gives your team a little bit of momentum to start the season.”
And while it isn’t uncommon for teams to suffer from championship hangover, the culture of the Dodgers clubhouse has kept the team looking sharp this season. Their historic start didn’t come as a surprise to Roberts, who knows exactly the types of players he has.
“Not surprised at all. I’m not surprised at all. I just think our guys prepare, play the right way every day,” Roberts said. “That’s a character thing, for me. If you have the talent and you lay eggs early, that’s a character flaw.
“And I just think that, yeah, winning games is hard, but for us to come out and play the way we have, I just think that we have a lot of smart, talented and high-character ball players.”
A week into the regular season for all 30 teams, the Dodgers are flying high with the best record in baseball and are looking like an unstoppable force with six comeback victories. The most exciting aspect of the Dodgers’ fast start is they aren’t playing at full strength nor is the lineup firing on all cylinders.
“We knew going in we were talented. You never know how the season’s going to play out until you start playing games. I actually like it in the sense that no one is too high right now,” Roberts said. “I think that the pitching has been very good, the defense has been solid, but up and down our lineup, there’s only a couple guys that are really swinging the bats the way they’re capable of.
“And outside of that, guys are sort of trying to find their way, and we’re getting big hits. To be fair, I think that guys are really trying to think about how they can get better right now, which is a pretty scary thought for the rest of the league.”
How Dave Roberts helped shape Dodgers’ mindset
With the target on the Dodgers’ back growing exponentially after winning the World Series in 2024, followed by another expensive offseason, Roberts wanted to ensure his team approached 2025 with the right mindset. He didn’t find the message all that difficult to get across, as it was one the players naturally gravitated to.
“I think, for me, it’s easy to send a message, to give a message, if that’s what you believe. I’ve always felt like I’ve had a chip on my shoulder, personally, and so I think that it’s easy for me to try to find a way for our guys to feel that way too, and to be an aggressor and not be a victim or a target,” Roberts explained.
“And so I think that mindset was easy to kind of deliver, and it was very well received.”
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