NEW YORK — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts strode into the visitor’s dugout at Yankee Stadium on Friday afternoon and noticed a difference immediately.
“Feels like the postseason,” he said, looking at the media crowding around for his pre-game press availability.
“Is this October or what?”
It is not October yet but the matchup between the Dodgers and New York Yankees drew a postseason-sized media gathering and is being billed as a potential World Series preview – one that would be the 12th between the two former neighbors. The 11 past meetings is already the most in World Series history.
“This is historic. It really is,” Roberts said.
“It has to and it should feel different when you come into this ballpark and you play this franchise. When you’re playing for the Yankees or the Dodgers, it better feel different. If not, you’d better do something else for a profession. It’s a win. It’s a loss. It’s a baseball game. But these are big moments. These are exciting times.”
The Yankees came into the weekend series with the best record in baseball (45-19). The Dodgers (playing at Yankee Stadium for the first time since 2016) have the second-best record in the National League (39-25) behind the Philadelphia Phillies – which puts the Dodgers in the rare position of measuring themselves against the best instead of providing the standard against which their opponent measures itself.
“Yeah, we’re the Cinderella team,” Roberts said with a smile.
“We have some of the best players on the planet playing here in the Bronx. … Roll out the balls and let the stars play like stars. That’s what this is about.
“I think they respect us. They know how good we are. We certainly respect them. It’s going to be a great series. But however the win-loss goes this series I don’t think it’s going to affect how the rest of the season goes. And hopefully, we get to see this again in October.”
SHO TIME
Talking about the Yankees, Roberts said more than once that “their stars are playing like stars.”
Not all of the Dodgers’ stars have been doing the same recently, though both Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani have shown signs of turning things around this week.
Ohtani’s slowdown started when he was hit in the back of the left leg by a pickoff throw on May 16. Whether that was the reason for his slump is unknown. But Roberts said the hamstring is no longer an issue.
“I think the last couple days have been much better,” Roberts said of Ohtani’s swing, which produced three hits including a home run in the final two games in Pittsburgh. “I think physically he’s as close to 100 percent as anyone could be at this point of the season. If he can just stay to the big part of the field the way he has the last couple days, he’s going to do just fine.”
REHAB FRIDAY
As scheduled, left-hander Clayton Kershaw threw two simulated innings at Rancho Cucamonga on Friday afternoon. According to Roberts, Kershaw’s fastball “touched” 90 mph. The expectation is that Kershaw will throw another simulated session “five or six days,” stretching it to three innings next time.
Meanwhile in Oklahoma City on Friday night, right-hander Bobby Miller made his third rehab start, his first at Triple-A, and pitched into the fifth inning. He didn’t retire a batter in his final inning, giving up two singles before being pulled after 85 pitches.
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Miller gave up four hits (all singles), walked two and struck out two.
Also, third baseman Max Muncy took a “step forward” in his recovery from a strained oblique muscle, including “dry swings” (no ball involved) in his workouts.
“I think that we’re cautiously optimistic,” Roberts said. “With the soft tissue, the oblique, we’re trying to be very mindful of not pushing him too much.”
Muncy began taking batting practice during the Dodgers’ previous road trip but had to shut it down when his injury “flared up” again.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (RHP Gavin Stone, 6-2, 2.90 ERA) at Yankees (LHP Nestor Cortes, 3-4, 3.46 ERA), Saturday, 4:30 p.m., FOX (Ch. 11), 570 AM
