Los Angeles Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts is not a fan of the new postseason format
Needless to say, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts still isn't over his team prematurely bowing out of the 2022 playoffs. The Dodgers won a major league-best 111 games during last season's regular season, but fell three games to one against the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series.
On an episode of The Athletic Baseball Show podcast, Roberts discussed the Dodgers' postseason 2022 failure and his distaste for Major League Baseball's current playoff format.
"We had a great year, so it's hard to take away from the season that we had and how well we played," Roberts said. "If I talk about playoff format, it's sour grapes. I just don't think it defines the best teams."
More from Dave Roberts on the Starkville podcast: "We had a great year, so it's hard to take away from the season that we had and how well we played. If I talk about playoff format, it's sour grapes. I just don't think it defines the best teams."
"We had a great year, so it's hard to take away from the season that we had and how well we played. If I talk about playoff format, it's sour grapes. I just don't think it defines the best teams." - Dodgers manager Dave Roberts via @MMoreno1015
The Los Angeles Dodgers dominated the Padres during the 2022 regular season, winning 14 of 19 head-to-head games en route to finishing 22 games in front of San Diego in the National League West standings.
However, San Diego still won 89 games and claimed the second of the NL's three Wild Card berths. The Padres then bested the New York Mets, the league's No. 1 Wild Card team, in three games during the Wild Card round of the playoffs before upsetting the Dodgers in the divisional round.
Los Angeles Dodgers would not have faced San Diego under 2021 postseason format
It was the first year of MLB's new playoff format, which allows for three Wild Card teams for each league to join the division winners in the postseason. Under the former system, neither the Padres nor the eventual World Series runner-up Philadelphia Phillies would have made the playoffs.
In the new system, the Padres and Phillies ended up meeting in the National League Championship Series, won by Philadelphia, as the Los Angeles Dodgers and the NL's other 100-plus win team, the Atlanta Braves, sat home and watched.
Dave Roberts on pain with #Dodgers getting eliminated by the Padres: “I was a part of losing a Game 7 to the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium in 2017. This elimination was on par with that.”
I was a part of losing a Game 7 to the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium in 2017. This elimination was on par with that. - Dodgers manager Dave Roberts via @MMoreno1015
Roberts, who made his home in San Diego, said that both he and his wife did not stay home after the Dodgers lost to the Padres. Instead, they left on a trip to London to "escape the city" rather than watch the Padres play on.
The Los Angeles Dodgers skipper, who was confirmed to return in 2023, equated the playoff loss to San Diego to when Los Angeles fell in the World Series five years previous.
“I was a part of losing a Game 7 to the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium in 2017," Roberts said. "This elimination was on par with that.”