Dave Roberts: Dodgers ‘Know’ Diamondbacks Better Than Record Indicates

The Los Angeles Dodgers concluded their homestand on a sour note as they fell 6-0 to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday to drop only their second series in the last month.

The Dodgers took the opener of the three-game set before losing the next two in which they were outscored 13-3. Arizona improved to 24-26 with the series win and appear to be finding some momentum after a slow start to the season.

The Diamondbacks are the reigning National League champions and made some solid additions to their roster during the offseason, but have largely underperformed so far.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes the Diamondbacks are a better team than their record suggests, via Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times:

“Oh, yeah. I think we know that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, when asked if Arizona was better than its record might indicate. “It seems like everyone around the league is going through a lot of injuries–certainly those guys with their starting pitching.

“But their bullpen has been really good, they took good at-bats against us and they got big hits when they needed to. We know how good of a ball club they are. They certainly play us very well.”

As Roberts noted, the Diamondbacks have been without several key contributors in their starting rotation this season, with Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodríguez both currently on the 60-day injured list.

The same can be said for the Dodgers, who only recently got back Walker Buehler and are still awaiting the potential returns of Bobby Miller, Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May.

L.A. has been able to weather their injuries better due to their impressive depth and currently own a 33-19 record. They are just 3-3 against Arizona this season, but hold a commanding eight-game lead over them in the NL West standings.

Diamondbacks focused on being ‘best version’ of themselves, not Dodgers

While the Dodgers received a lot of attention during the offseason for their high-profile acquisitions, Paul Sewald said the Diamondbacks are not focused on them and rather just trying to be the best version of themselves.