Q. When you look at the roster construction, what led to the decision to carry 11 pitchers and 15 position players?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yeah, after much deliberation, I think kind of looking at the short series, looking at having a couple of starters as far as Sheehan and Glas in the pen, feeling good about covering the innings. And then you're looking at Munce coming off some lower body stuff, Tommy coming off the ankle, and Will feeling like he can be viable in a pinch-hit spot, potentially catch coming into a game.
So all those variables led us to the extra position player and kind of how we constructed that position player group.
Q. You mentioned both Max Muncy and Tommy Edman. I know yesterday both of them were able to get some at-bats, and Max has been on the field, things like that. How do you feel with them battling back from the injuries and getting back out there?
DAVE ROBERTS: I feel good. Both of the guys took a handful of at-bats yesterday. They both came out of it well feeling good. Encouraged. So there's a lot of ways we can kind of simulate at-bats, which they've done, and then also with the at-bats that they took yesterday.
So I feel good with where we're at and kind of the options that I'll have off the bench, too.
Q. What's the mindset of you and your club right now as you are the defending champions and everyone is predicting good things for you. What are the pitfalls out there that you have to be aware of?
DAVE ROBERTS: I think the pitfalls are just kind of easing your way into a series. There's certainly a very short series. I don't see that as a problem.
A pitfall is facing Hunter Greene. He's got a good arm, really great competitor. But I do feel that just having the one day off is a benefit to us offensively. I don't know how that's going to play out tonight or tomorrow. But I think mentally as a roster, all that stuff, we're in a good spot.
Q. Can you talk about Justin Dean and what he brings to the club moving forward?
DAVE ROBERTS: Justin has had a really nice year. I think he's an 80 defender out in center field. He can come in and steal a base. So just the flexibility of somebody who can score on a base hit, steal a base, come in for defense in a plus game to tighten some things up, a benefit.
Q. You mentioned Will as being an option to pinch-hit. Is he close to being an option behind the plate as well, or would that be potentially beyond this week?
DAVE ROBERTS: He is. The hitting, the throwing, he feels really good about. So I think it's a day-to-day thing. And so I'm not closing the door that he's not going to start tomorrow. But I do feel that the floor of having him available to hit in any big spot, it was certainly worth having him on the roster.
But, yeah, we're going to leave that open as far as his availability to start.
Q. How did you come to the decision to leave a couple of guys off who were with you all year, Banda and Conforto?
DAVE ROBERTS: Yes, I sort of referenced the Conforto thing given where Muncy and Tommy are at physically, to have the extra infielder and having Will Smith's availability off the bench. So that's a little bit kind of how we came to that. And you're basically kind of thinking, are you going to take Will's bat off the bench or Michael's at-bat right now.
So that was kind of one thing, which is very difficult because it's been really difficult for Michael. But he's owned every kind of performance. He's owned his performance, hasn't run away from it. He showed up to work every single day, offensively, defensively. So he's one of my favorites.
He'll be ready if called upon, and hopefully we have a long run and we're going to need him.
As far as Banda, very, very difficult decision as well. I think having the length of some starters -- and this is just a very right-hand heavy team. So looking at the landscape of their team, who they hit for, there would just not be a lot of opportunities for Anthony. So very difficult conversation, but if we're fortunate enough to get to the next round, he'll be in there versus the Phillies.
Q. With the bullpen, do you have a guy, a couple guys you want to try to use in the ninth inning? Or are you going to be going pretty much match-ups and what makes sense the whole way through?
DAVE ROBERTS: You know, I've got some clarity. Not exactly sure. I do think that if a guy's throwing the baseball well and they have more bullets, then I feel good about them continuing.
But I have probably three or four guys I feel really comfortable finishing the game for us.
Q. Appreciating you guys have him lined up to start Thursday, but we talked so much about the possibility of Ohtani in the bullpen. Is there any scenarios in the next couple nights where that could be on the table?
DAVE ROBERTS: I don't think so. Never say never, but I don't think so. But, again, I guess anything's possible.
Q. How do you feel about momentum and the place that your guys are in coming into this series?
DAVE ROBERTS: Momentum is real. It's not everything. I think that whether it's the Rangers find their way into the postseason to then win the World Series or some team finishing hot and remaining hot or in a particular game, I do believe in a postseason game, momentum is real in how you kind of manage it to not let it spiral.
I do love being at home because a lot of times that's what perpetuates it, the home crowd, the energy. And how you manage it, how the players manage it.
And I do think that having experience, which we have a lot of guys that have postseason experience can sort of manage big spots.
Q. When you talk about letting a guy go who has bullets to go to close out a game, is Glasnow an option for that? What scenario would it require to deploy him in relief?
DAVE ROBERTS: Glas is an option. I just think that he's ready for whatever we ask of him. It's high-octane stuff. And so if we deploy him anything withstanding, if he's throwing the baseball well, I don't see a reason he wouldn't continue.
I don't know when, what situation, it's not even a particular run, but, yeah, we'll see. We'll see.
But I'm just grateful because we have our best guys. And Clayton's one of those guys but he pitched on Sunday. I feel good with how we're equipped.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports