Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers and catchers have been in camp for a handful of days now and several position players accompanied them. But Monday represented the official report day for position players and Tuesday marked the Dodgers’ first full-squad workout of 2020 Spring Training.
With that came the annual address from manager Dave Roberts. While he’s entering a fifth season at the helm, Roberts was presented with a unique situation this year in that the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal continues to hover over the sport.
Thus, Roberts wasn’t completely certain what his message to the team would entail. “That’s still TBD in light of what’s kind of transpired the last couple days,” he said Monday. “I think first and foremost is to just welcome everyone together.
“We’ve got some new faces but the goals don’t change. I think for the most part we have guys that really understand they have some things they want to say. But as we get together, we still have to play baseball, and that’s the most important thing.”
Playing the games and eliminating external distractions is what Roberts wound up using as a central theme, along with emphasizing a need to sacrifice for the betterment of the team, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Dave Roberts said his message to the club before toda’s first full workout was to put the blinders on and get ready to play baseball.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) February 18, 2020
Roberts said sacrifice is a theme stressed to his players, because the roster is loaded with talent and some players won’t be happy about playing time.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) February 18, 2020
Although Dodgers players, such as Cody Bellinger, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Turner and Alex Wood, have been unabashed with their comments about the Astros and Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, each has continued to stress the overarching focus is on the 2020 season.
The Dodgers of course are coming off a disappointing finish last year, but remain among the World Series favorites and have added excitement with the additions of Mookie Betts and David Price.
With full-squad workouts now underway, the Dodgers begin their Cactus League slate with a road matchup against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday.
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