Dave Roberts said on October 13, 2026, that he disagreed with not challenging two close called balls involving Terang because a missed called third strike could have changed Yoshinobu Yamamoto's outing.
“I didn't appreciate that,” Roberts said. He evaluated Yamamoto as uncharacteristically ineffective, adding, “Tonight, he just didn't have it tonight, which is very rare.” Roberts also stated that Yamamoto reached approximately 70 pitches, that the Dodgers recorded three hits, and that the team lost with starts from Tarik Skubal and Yamamoto.
Roberts explained that the decision to use Bubic was intended to create a matchup against four or five left-handed hitters: “you get four out of four out of five left-handed hitters.” He also said the Dodgers used Roki Sasaki for one inning.
Looking at the pitching plan, Roberts noted that the Dodgers needed Blake Snell to provide length and allow the bullpen to be deployed with a lead: “you need Snow to go out there and give us some length.” He added that Snell was expected to be focused after being dissatisfied with his previous outing against the Braves, saying, “Blake has a bad taste in his mouth.”
Roberts said teams must trust catchers and players to make challenge decisions in the moment, stating, “you got to kind of trust the players to make those decisions.” He specifically trusted Will Smith, while his managerial planning included Roki Sasaki and Blake Snell.