The Dodgers are a phenomenal team with great players, so why do they keep losing the postseason? Many assume that it’s the nerves that bring out the bad in the players or that the players aren’t good enough. While these points may be valid, they only have an insignificant influence on the real problem is; Dave Roberts, and his calls. 

Roberts often has too much trust in his pitcher and leaves him in longer than he should. During game seven of the World Series two years ago, Yu Darvish allowed 5 runs in the first two innings. However, Roberts kept him in the game based on the fact that Darvish played well in the regular season. While taking a pitcher out in the beginning of the game looks bad, the manager should have done it anyway because it could’ve saved the Dodgers’ season. Instead, they lost game seven because the team crumbled under the arm of Darvish and the decision making of Roberts. 

The Dodgers are entrusting Dave Roberts to make the right calls, but when Roberts has too much trust in one player that’s when the problem starts. This is reflected in the line-ups that he sets. One specific example is when Dave Roberts decided to put rookies in the line-up during the World Series but this is not the right time to give chances to youngsters who want to prove that they’re worthy enough to be on the team. That’s what spring training is for. This choice also forced Joc Pederson to sit out for most of the series which is really weird considering that he’s literally the only consistent offensive player that the Dodgers had in the series. 

Their regular season wasn’t any better. The Dodgers took Yasiel Puig out of the line-up for the majority of the regular season, while Chris Taylor and Austin Barnes played regularly but poorly. This type of thinking isn’t justified or practical. 

To top things off, this postseason Cody Bellinger was just not doing as well as he was in the regular season. Bellinger should have been trying harder and even if he was, many baseball fans were not able to see the effort coming from him. He wasn’t the only one because other players weren’t looking as if they were giving their all either. This directly falls on Dave Roberts because it’s his sole job to motivate his players. 

While Dave Roberts has been a good manager, the Dodgers have plateaued under his reign.