Dave Roberts discusses rules mistake, defends strategy

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made an embarrassing gaffe Saturday that left him having to defend both his strategy and his awareness of the rules.

With the Dodgers trailing the New York Mets 9-4 in the 9th inning of Saturday’s game, Roberts attempted to bring in position player Zach McKinstry to pitch, preferring to save his actual pitchers in a game that, in Roberts’ estimation, was all but over. There was one major problem, however — an MLB rule prevents managers from using position players to pitch unless their team is either trailing or leading by six runs or more. The rule was actually added to the books for 2020, but had been suspended for the previous two seasons due to pandemic-related injury concerns.

That left Roberts, unaware of the rule, scrambling for another pitcher after umpires blocked him from making the change. As a result, the Dodgers had to quickly warm up reliever Evan Phillips to get through the final inning.

After the game, Roberts was forced to defend both his knowledge of the rules and his strategy. He took ownership of the rules gaffe, admitting not knowing about the rule was an “oversight.”