Before a recent turnaround, the Los Angeles Dodgers got off to one of their worst starts to a season in franchise history. Players struggled on the field, but the Dodgers also had the deck stacked against them by way of losing key contributors to injury.
In his third year as a manager, Dave Roberts has been through more adversity in the first month and a half of this season than perhaps his entire first two seasons combined. He guided the Dodgers to a National League West title and was named manager of the Year in 2016, and the team reached the World Series last season for the first time since 1988.
Roberts recently admitted that this season has been his most difficult one, although things are starting to look up. The Dodgers have won six of their last seven games and are only 3.5 games out of first place in the NL West.
One trait of Roberts’ that is easy to see is that no matter how bad things are going is his positive outlook, which is something All-Star closer Kenley Jansen appreciates about his manager, via Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times:
“He just stays positive, even through all the bad streaks we’ve gone through, when you could easily go negative,” Jansen said. “For him to be that positive, that keeps your mind in check.”
Jansen is one of those players that got off to a rough start to the season, which was uncharacteristic of the reigning two-time Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year Award winner.
Like Roberts, Jansen remained positive through all of his struggle, and now he has given up just one run in his last 14 appearances (15 innings), lowering his season ERA to 2.91. By the looks of it, Jansen is back to his usual dominant self.
After a day off on Thursday, the Dodgers will look to continue their hot streak when they welcome the San Diego Padres to town for a three-game series over the weekend.
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