Q. Have you made any determination on what Will Smith's role will be in this series? Can he catch? Do you plan on carrying all three catchers again?
DAVE ROBERTS: He's getting better each day. He's going to participate in live batting practice here shortly, so we'll gather more information. If it goes well, we'll carry three catchers.
And then as far as availability, not sure yet. But he will be available to catch. Just trying to be mindful of haven't caught in a long time and then kind of looking at the series and the capacity he can take on. So those are things that are kind of going through our heads right now.
Yeah, expecting this live BP to go well, him active. And from that point on, we'll figure it out from there.
Q. Before the regular season series against them, you kind of mentioned how important some of your lefties will be on your lefties. Is that a factor when you guys go through roster options right now?
DAVE ROBERTS: It is. It is. But obviously the truth is that some of their guys, Schwarber, in particular, agnostic. So, yeah, but I do think that the ability to kind of counter something with the right-handed starter, with guys on the bench -- so, yeah, the construction of their lineup, their roster, it certainly lends itself more to left-handed pitching. But we've still got to be good against those guys.
Q. Andrew said after the Wild Card series that Shohei will be treated as a normal pitcher from now on. Is that something where you'll be able to to consider him on less rest than usual, using him in relief at any point during this series?
DAVE ROBERTS: I'm sure that was more the vein of how we use him as a starter. He's going to start tomorrow. And I don't see him going on short rest or pitching out of the pen. Could change as the series evolves. But I think right now it's just kind of lock in on Game 1 and see where he's at after that game.
Q. With Shohei, Yamamoto, Snell, how much are you going to push them, rely on them to kind of carry you through this series?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think it's all contingent on how they're throwing the baseball. I think it's easy to say that they're our most talented arms on the staff. So obviously with that, you want them throwing the majority of the innings, pitches.
But that's all the stress, how they're throwing the baseball for me. And I've been to know to push guys, as I have recently. If they earn it, if I'm seeing such, and if not we'll have other guys we'll go to.
Q. As you guys evaluate just the state of the pen, could it make it more likely that you use some of those starters in relief roles on their bullpen days a little more aggressively?
DAVE ROBERTS: I don't think so. You're talking about Yamamoto, Snell, Shohei -- probably not. But obviously we've got Glas on the roster. He'll be available in Game 1. So having that length, that arm is huge for us.
And obviously with Emmet's ability and length and we've already sort of done that. So that's kind of how I see it right now.
Q. With that start that Shohei made against the Phillies a couple of weeks ago, was that the first time to you he looked like he was out of the rehab mode and back to being a true starting pitcher?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think so. I think even right before that start he said he was out of the rehab mode. And obviously you're playing a very talented team in the Phillies at that point in time. So you saw a really good Shohei that night.
Q. We've all assumed how you may line up your rotation in this series. But how do you see Game 2 and Game 3?
DAVE ROBERTS: So I think that we're thinking about Yamamoto, or Snell and then Yamamoto. And I think just having the ability for Glas to be available Game 1 is huge, and then pitch a potential Game 4 is also huge. That's what we're thinking right now.
Q. Do you see Kershaw fitting into this series at all?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, he'll be on the roster. He's going to be out of the pen and used as such.
Q. You spoke about using Roki in leverage after the Wild Card series. Would you put him in in a save situation?
DAVE ROBERTS: I would. I would. I think that the way he's handled himself up to this point, there's been no signs for me, which I had assumed, that the moment would be too big. And I have full confidence in whatever leverage role we put him in.
Q. Do you think that the way that Roki has risen to the occasion and kind of adapted to this new relief role so quickly can kind of spark the rest of the bullpen in a sense?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think so. I hope so. I hope it's something that energizes the guys in the pen, motivates them, because everyone wants innings and opportunities. And, so, hopefully with what Roki's done motivates guys to go after guys and pitch well, and so they can earn those opportunities as well.
Q. The Phillies haven't announced their rotation yet. There's a pretty good chance they'll go with three left-handed starters. A little unusual. You mentioned Schwarber. I know your two lefties are really good left on left. What do you make of your lineup against left-handed pitching? And what challenges does that present, or positives of facing three straight lefties?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think the positives are you get consistency of sort of who you're running out there. There will be a couple of tweaks with our lineups. But I think the challenges are those three arms are very good arms, if you're referring to those three lefties potentially starting against us. They're each different.
Our lefties do a good job of being able to use the whole field, to be able to handle the spin, fight off the velocity.
And, so, yeah, I think that we're really equipped to handle left-handed pitching or right-handed pitching. We've got a really talented lineup too.
Q. Your five-through-nine hitters hit .400 last series. What did you see specifically from those guys? And how can they carry the momentum into Game 1 in this series ahead?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think those guys, we eliminated the punch, the strikeouts. They won a lot of good, tough pitches. And they hit to all fields. So when you can be able to use the whole field, spoil pitches, bleed into the top of the order, you get some good things happening.
Q. Shohei mentioned he could stretch out the innings to six or seven. What's going to be your plan?
DAVE ROBERTS: He's already gone through six, which has been great, which is something that we wanted to kind of reach that marker in the regular season. So it's all contingent on how he's throwing the baseball.
So if it's six innings, it could be seven innings, I think this is something we've been waiting for all year. So he's ready for this moment. So, for me, I'm just going to sit back and watch closely. But as he said earlier, just treat him like a regular pitcher.
Q. About Roki, he said the Wild Card series, he didn't feel like any different with the regular season. Do you think he got more emotional in the D-backs game?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, I think that him being back on the Major League roster was the most important thing. And he's healthy. He's throwing the baseball well. I think that was a big boost to his confidence, pitching back in the big leagues with us.
And then I think the Wild Card part, he's just really in a good head space. He's very confident right now. And whatever postseason game I don't think is going to affect his confidence right now. He's in a great spot.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports