Dodgers’ Dave Roberts Almost Pulled Miguel Rojas Before Game 7 Home Run
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Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts opened up about his decision-making process during 2025 World Series Game 7, including the choice to keep Miguel Rojas in the game for the ninth inning.
Rojas, a right-handed hitter, came up to the plate with one out on the board in the top of the ninth inning with a one-run deficit.
Naturally, the Dodgers and Dave Roberts were trying to play match-ups with little room for error. He had Alex Call, who hit righties well for a right-handed batter, on the bench, and the skipper was considering him.
As pointed out by Tyler Kepner of The Athletic, who wrote a great feature on Game 7, Call had a .380 on-base percentage against righties last season, while Rojas had an on-base rate of .285.
Despite Call’s advantage, Roberts went with Rojas, a trusted veteran who is a respected leader and has the manager’s trust.
“I did think of Call,” Roberts said. “But I just felt that once I made the decision to play Rojas in Game 6, I was going to ride or die with him in any situation.
“Alex is traditionally better versus (righties), but you’ve still got to bake in coming off the bench, (while) Miggy’s played the entire game.
“And I understand the scrutiny of not optimizing a potential matchup. But, for me, I’ve played in and managed plenty of postseason games and you’ve just got to bet on people. So I was prepared to just sell out and bet on Miguel Rojas.”
Rojas had only hit one home run all season against a right-handed pitcher, against a catcher who came into a blowout game to preserve the bullpen.
Then, against Jeff Hoffman, who was worn down but still pitching well throughout the season, Rojas delivered a game-saving shot that proved to be the moment from the 2025 World Series and preserved the back-to-back titles.
Starting 2026 like he ended 2025
In one of his early at-bats of spring training, Rojas delivered another home run, this time against a lefty with an ideal match-up and not as important as his line-drive shot in October.
