Both during the offseason and throughout Spring Training, there were assertions from all members of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization that a World Series hangover would be avoided this season.
Manager Dave Roberts was among those to express that confidence, both because of the focus of the core group and infusion of newcomers on the roster. Per usual, Roberts addressed the team prior to their first full-squad workout of Spring Training.
However, he did not gather them for another speech ahead of beginning the season. “I don’t feel the need to address the team before Opening Day. Every manager has their different approach, but we’ve had the same group for quite some time,” Roberts explained.
“I think we’re ready emotionally, mentally. I don’t really like to hold cold meetings just to grandstand. I’m just really confident in the mindset going into today and starting the season.”
While it may very well end as a mere footnote in a successful season, the Dodgers were hardly at their best in an 8-5 loss to the Colorado Rockies. They committed two errors, went 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position and left 14 runners on base.
“Honestly, we just didn’t play a good baseball game all the way around. We didn’t play well, we gave away too many bases,” Roberts said after the game. “I thought the at-bat quality was good, but all the other parts of the game just weren’t clean.”
Roberts tabling talks of repeating
The Dodgers have embraced the challenge of being the first World Series champion to repeat since the New York Yankees rattled off three consecutive championships from 1998-2000. However, in not formally addressing the team prior to Opening Day, Roberts also hasn’t touched on potentially repeating in a group setting.
“I haven’t had that uniformed, together meeting. But all throughout the winter and spring, I’ve heard those conversations from players, and that’s the most important thing,” he said.
“We’re ready to tackle this season and play it with the same focus we did last year. I didn’t feel like I needed to have that meeting with the guys because it’s already been talked about quite often.”
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