At a Los Angeles Dodgers team press conference on June 30, 2026, players Mookie Betts, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Miguel Rojas spoke about manager Dave Roberts as he nears his 1,000th career win as a major league manager.
Betts described Roberts as more than a manager. "I see him more as like a baseball dad, really, to be honest," Betts said during the press conference, adding that Roberts is always present both emotionally and physically. Betts noted Roberts' personal touch extends to the players' families: "He's awesome with our kids, with our wives. I mean, he remembers everybody's names."
Rojas, who said he has been part of the Dodgers environment for over three years, stated that one of the first calls he received after being traded to the Dodgers in 2023 was from Roberts — and the conversation was not about baseball. "The first thing he asked me was about my family, about the name of my kids, the name of my wife, and all of that means a lot and goes a long way," Rojas noted. He also credited Roberts for managing different personalities in the clubhouse and keeping everyone engaged with their role, adding, "That is not easy to have this kind of environment and the camaraderie that we have every single day, and a lot of that is credit to Doc."
Yamamoto credited Roberts' consistent communication and personal check-ins as a key factor in uniting the roster, explaining that Roberts' habit of checking in on how players were doing helped bring the group together as one team.
Rojas, who has aspired to manage himself and said he is learning managerial skills from Roberts, expressed a desire to eventually work alongside him. "Hopefully I can be right next to him at some point, because I think I would love to keep helping him, being the great manager that he is," Rojas added, as the Dodgers look to deliver Roberts his milestone 1,000th win.