The Los Angeles Dodgers are running away with the National League West and are in prime position to clinch the top overall seed as they hold a five-game lead over the New York Mets entering play Friday.
With a massive lead in the dog days of summer, it would be easy for the Dodgers to take their foot off the gas and relax a bit. However, manager Dave Roberts has called his club “relentless” and feels they won’t take a breather until they’ve accomplished their first goal of winning the division.
But even with a hyper-focused team, the baseball season is a grind, so the Dodgers are just looking at each day with a one-game-at-a-time view.
“I think it sounds pretty simple and is a little bit more difficult in practice, but we just stay in the moment to win tonight’s game,” Roberts explained. “I think when you hear your leaders on the ballclub saying that, your coaches and then the younger players follow, it’s a lot easier to stay focused when you look at it from that perspective.”
So far, that mentality has been exemplified by Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner, who have each started all of the Dodgers’ 110 games, and Mookie Betts, who is right behind them with 93 games played due to an injury.
Roberts feels his star players staying on the field so often has made a “huge” impact keeping the team motivated.
“Obviously, I try to get them off their feet when I get the chance, but I think their mindset of wanting to be in there every day, every inning, is contagious,” Roberts said. “The season is already a grind, but to look for no ways to get away from it as far as having a day off or whatever, that’s contagious.
“Everyone wants to be in there every night. It’s a high-class problem. We have a lot of good players, so it’s kind of on me to spell guys when they need it but also get the guys who aren’t playing every day, some at-bats.”
Muncy: Dodgers deep lineup ‘has been forgotten about’
The top of the Dodgers lineup is loaded with superstars, so it’s expected that they’ll put up runs. But over the current 10-game winning streak, the bottom of the order has started to come through consistently as well. “We’re a really deep lineup,” Muncy said.
“We’re a really, really good lineup. It kind of seems like our lineup has been forgotten about with a lot of the stuff that’s been happening. It’s been nice to go out there and prove again we’re one of the best lineups in baseball, and there’s no question about that.”
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