Donald Trump criticizes Dave Roberts’ bullpen management

The Los Angeles Dodgers had a new critic Saturday night, as Donald Trump himself weighed in on the strategy on Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

President Donald Trump, one of the world’s most controversial figures, apparently has an interest in watching baseball, especially of the playoff variety.

Saturday night during Game 4 of the World Series, Trump tweeted that taking Rich Hill, who’d been stellar up to that point, out of the game was a “big mistake”.

Trump, who uses Twitter often, hasn’t exactly shown a lot of interest in baseball. His take, seemingly random in timing, was attacking the choices of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who has been one of the game’s most respected skippers since being appointed in 2016.

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After the game, Roberts, the 2016 NL Manager of the Year, wasn’t impressed, noting that he was “happy he was tuning in and watching”, per Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald, further saying “that’s just one man’s opinion”.

Roberts’ counterpart, Red Sox manager Alex Cora, immediately stood up for Roberts in his post-game interview, telling Mastrodonato and others that “Dave Roberts is a good manager”.

Rich Hill, the veteran southpaw, had been pitching a gem – 6.1 IP, H, ER, 7 SO – and the relievers brought in to take his place, Scott Alexander and Ryan Madson, did give up two earned runs in two thirds of an inning, so perhaps it wasn’t the smartest baseball move to take Hill out of the game.

Regardless, Dave Roberts is, as Cora said, a spectacular manager. He’s fearless, well-respected and, despite an arguable blunder in last night’s game, knows how to effectively manage a bullpen.

With the Dodgers’ backs up against the wall, it’ll be interesting to see how Roberts and his coaching staff react to the threat of elimination in Sunday’s Game 5.