Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke at a press conference on June 17, 2026, explaining Shohei Ohtani's power resurgence and praising starter Robleski's outing in a 1-0 win over the Rockies, completed in under two hours.
Roberts attributed Ohtani's home run — the decisive blow of the game — to a broader pattern of hard contact finally converting. "He was hitting the ball hard, doubles, some singles, and then if he was just missing it a little bit, there was going to be slug," Roberts noted, adding that Ohtani's approach of using the whole field made the difference: "seeing the baseball well, swinging at good pitches, and then, yeah, like we've always talked about, when he used a big part of the field, there's just no one better." Roberts also confirmed that in Ohtani's next outing, he will pitch but will not hit.
Robleski delivered six innings and 65 pitches on short rest, recording five strikeouts while touching 97 mph in the first inning, according to Roberts. The manager explained his decision to limit Robleski at that point: "You got to the teeth part of the lineup and I just felt that with the short rest he did his job." Roberts described Robleski's defining characteristic as relentless intensity, stating, "His first pitch is like his last pitch and he's the epitome of go as hard as you can for as long as you can."
A key moment came in the first inning when Robleski attacked leadoff hitter Kevin Camaro on just three pitches. "Kevin Camaro is one of the really good hitters in baseball... he didn't run from that," Roberts said, framing the at-bat as setting the tone for the night. Roberts also acknowledged that opposing starter Rasmussen presented a significant challenge, calling him "an elite pitcher" the Dodgers rarely face.
Roberts emphasized that the pitching performance could not be separated from the defense behind it. "When you talk about the pitching, it has to be the defense has to be mentioned," he stated, singling out Mookie Betts — who played shortstop for the Dodgers — as "fantastic at short" and highlighting a key double play turned by Freeland and Betts as a pivotal moment. Roberts closed by calling the sub-two-hour, 1-0 result "really fun baseball" and described it as "an old school baseball game" the club found a way to win through Ohtani's home run.