The 2024 season was Dave Roberts’ ninth as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and arguably his most challenging yet.
The team dealt with a plethora of injuries throughout the year, which amounted to 40 different players seeing time on the Major League roster.
Roberts had to craft a multitude of lineups over the course of the 2024 season, rotating players in and out based on performance and injuries.
During an appearance on the “On Base With Mookie Betts” podcast, Roberts shared a belief his ability to stick with struggling players can be considered both a strength and a weakness:
As Roberts noted, he didn’t hesitate to make significant changes to the Dodgers lineup during the postseason. One prime example was when he dropped Will Smith to the No. 7 spot in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.
Gavin Lux also missed some time due to a right hip flexor issue, which led to Andy Pages making his first postseason start in center field.
When Freddie Freeman was out of the Dodgers lineup because of an ankle injury, Tommy Edman benefited by being moved up to the cleanup spot. He ran with this opportunity and wound up earning 2024 NLCS MVP honors.