Over the course of his nine-year tenure as the Dodgers' manager, Dave Roberts has amassed a wealth of insights about his role. When the Dodgers achieve victory, which they have done more than any other team since 2016, it is never attributed directly to Roberts. Instead, it is rationalized as the result of their abundant resources, substantial payroll, and the sophisticated front office that brings together the star power, making winning an inevitable outcome. However, when the Dodgers face defeat, Roberts bears the brunt of the blame more than anyone else. He is often criticized for taking the pitcher out too early, bringing in the wrong reliever, being overly reliant on analytics or not relying enough on them. As Roberts himself stated this fall, "I've learned to have thicker skin and try to appreciate the fact that there will always be criticism—perhaps more jaded at times. But it is a results-driven business, and I understand that."

Absolutely a Results Business

In 2024, Roberts truly delivered the results. Despite losing top players Mookie Betts and Max Muncy for extended periods and being burdened with more pitching injuries than any other team in MLB this year, he guided the Dodgers to the best record in baseball. Los Angeles' 98 wins were actually low by their own standards. The last time the Dodgers failed to reach 100 wins in a full season was 2018. Moreover, with just three healthy starting pitchers, Roberts led the Dodgers to their fourth National League pennant in the past eight seasons, their second World Series title in the past five, and their first full-season championship since 1988. As Betts said after the Dodgers defeated the Yankees to win the World Series, "To be honest, Dave is the real reason why we're here. I know there's a lot of talk about Doc—(but) Doc is the best, man. Doc loves each and every person in here. Doc has confidence in each and every person in here. Doc never lost confidence in anybody in here. And no matter what we went through, he was always positive."

Turning the Season Around

In mid-September, a moment occurred that "turned our season around," as Muncy and others recognized in retrospect. The Dodgers were in the midst of a slide, losing six of nine games, including the first two of a four-game series in Atlanta, which trimmed their lead in the NL West to just 3.5 games over a hard-charging Padres team. On top of that, they received the news that ace Tyler Glasnow would not be returning to pitch again in 2024 due to an elbow injury. For many in the Dodgers clubhouse, it felt like the final straw. Left fielder Teoscar Hernandez recalled, "Not from the team, but from the outside. Everybody was panicking because we had a lot of injuries. We lost a lot of pitchers. And it was one time that we felt like we were down as a team." But one meeting changed everything. Roberts called that meeting before the third game in Atlanta because he sensed a "little 'woe is me' " attitude sinking in and realized that "that's just not who we are." The message was essentially, "I can't believe more in them than they believe in each other." They had to believe in themselves, and Roberts felt that they had enough talent in the room to achieve that.

Postseason Pitching Prowess

That reminder carried the Dodgers into the postseason, where in previous Octobers, wrong pitching choices had often undone them. Back-to-back first-round exits loomed like a cloud over the 2024 Dodgers when they fell behind two games to one in the NL Division Series against San Diego. But Roberts stitched together a shutout in Game 4 by using eight pitchers in a bullpen game and then got another shutout in Game 5 from Yoshinobu Yamamoto and four relievers. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman praised Roberts' handling of the team's limited pitching resources, saying, "I thought he was surgical in Game 4 and Game 5." It was part of a postseason record-tying 33 consecutive scoreless innings from Dodgers pitchers. Starter Jack Flaherty also gave credit to Roberts, stating, "Hats off to our guys and the way they threw the ball the rest of that series. But you've got to give (Roberts) a lot of credit as well. The way guys were brought in and put into situations to succeed—and just be put in those right situations."

Decision-Making Through the Playoffs

Roberts' decision-making remained on point throughout the NL Championship Series victory in six games against the Mets and the five-game dispatch of the Yankees in the World Series. His career winning percentage of.627 is first among active managers and fifth all-time. He ranks sixth all-time in postseason victories. Among the five managers ahead of him—Joe Torre, Tony La Russa, and Bobby Cox—all are in the Hall of Fame. The other two—Dusty Baker and Bruce Bochy—are likely to be enshrined one day. Just 24 managers in MLB history have won at least four pennants, and Roberts is now one of them. With only two active managers on this list, Roberts' achievement is truly remarkable.