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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts publicly backed his bullpen on Thursday, declaring the group is “better” than its results in June have shown, per Dodger Blue staff. The comments came after Wednesday’s 9-8 bullpen implosion against the Pittsburgh Pirates and additional shaky relief work during Thursday’s win. Roberts wants the unit to return to the standard it set earlier this season.

The bullpen had been one of the more productive units in baseball for much of 2026 before this rough patch surfaced. June has been a different story. Wednesday’s collapse against Pittsburgh was the kind of loss that lingers — the Dodgers had built a comfortable lead only to watch relievers give it all back. Thursday brought another win, but the relief corps still looked uneven getting there. That’s two consecutive games where the back end of the pitching staff created more stress than it should have.

Roberts’ comments carry weight because he’s not one to publicly call out his players, so framing this as a “better than this” message rather than a vote of blind confidence is notable. He’s setting an expectation. The Dodgers have leaned heavily on their bullpen all season, particularly with the rotation dealing with various health questions — Shohei Ohtani‘s recent early exit with a knee issue and Jordan Wrobleski‘s own departure from that same game only underscore how much the relievers are being asked to carry. When your starters can’t consistently go deep into games, the margin for error in the bullpen shrinks considerably.

This is a group that has the talent to right itself. We’ve seen it perform at a high level for months. But June has exposed what happens when a few guys go cold at the same time — leads evaporate fast. The Dodgers’ schedule doesn’t ease up, so the bullpen needs to find its footing quickly. Roberts saying the quiet part out loud — that the results aren’t matching the talent — is his way of putting the group on notice without torching anyone’s confidence. I think it’s the right approach. These are established arms who know what they’re capable of doing.

The bigger picture here is that the Dodgers can absorb a rough bullpen stretch as long as it stays a stretch and doesn’t become a trend. With Will Smith on the IL and the rotation navigating its own health concerns, the last thing this team needs is a bullpen that’s bleeding leads on a nightly basis. Roberts clearly feels the same way. He’s betting on the talent snapping back. For our sake, he better be right — because the next few weeks will tell us whether this was a blip or something that needs a more aggressive fix at the trade deadline.

Source(s): Staff (Dodger Blue) | First reported: June 12, 2026 3:23 PM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers