Dave Roberts doesn’t usually talk like this in public. But on Monday, August 10, before the Kansas City Royals came to Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers manager said out loud what a lot of fans were already thinking: the two-time defending World Series champions are playing like a wild card team — and if they don’t turn it around soon, October is going to get a lot harder.
What Roberts Said, and Why It Matters
The statement came before first pitch, at a press availability with Spectrum SportsNet LA. No soft language, no protecting the clubhouse:
«We’re a wild card team right now. We gotta get going and play with urgency. We gotta make sure we don’t get ahead of the playoff situation… Across the board, we need to play with more urgency, and our guys know that.»
The key word is wild card. The Dodgers are still leading the NL West at 71-48, but they’ve fallen out of the top two spots in the National League — the seeds that earn a direct bye to the Division Series. Right now, the Brewers (74-45) and the Braves (71-48, with a better run differential) are both ahead of them in the overall NL standings. If the playoffs started today, the back-to-back champs would have to win an extra round just to get where they expect to be.
Roberts Has Seen This Before — and It Cost Them
This isn’t new territory for this team. In 2025, the Dodgers went 12-21 between July 4 and August 13, blew an eight-game lead, and finished the regular season without the first-round bye — even after winning the NL West. They had to take the long road through the playoffs.
That experience clearly weighs on Roberts. His tone on Monday wasn’t panic, but it wasn’t patience either.
The current slide has a clear shape: since the trade deadline — when the Dodgers made the loudest move of the summer by acquiring two-time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal — they got swept by the Red Sox, dropped a series to the Cubs, and lost two of three to the Diamondbacks in Phoenix. The offense scored three runs or fewer in four of the five games leading up to Roberts’ comments. The bullpen has been leaking in late innings with frustrating regularity.
The season-long numbers still look like an elite club: a 3.29 ERA (third in MLB), a 1.10 WHIP (first in the majors), and an offensive .775 OPS (also first). The talent hasn’t gone anywhere. The consistency has.
Ohtani, Freeman, and a Win That Felt Like Oxygen
The Dodgers answered that same night. They beat the Royals — who came in at 49-70, last in the AL Central — 6-5 in a back-and-forth game with multiple lead changes. Shohei Ohtani scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning; Freddie Freeman delivered the RBI single that ended up being the difference.
It was just the Dodgers’ second win in their last 10 games. That’s not enough to call it a turnaround. But it’s enough to say Roberts’ message landed — at least for one night, the team showed up and played like they heard him.
Skubal also made his first start at Dodger Stadium that evening, his home debut with his new club. If the Dodgers are going to find their footing again, this stretch is where it starts. They already know what it costs to ignore the warning signs.
