As the National League Championship Series is best-of-seven, manager Dave Roberts believes, “Now obviously pitching becomes more paramount.” Roberts has curated his roster for NLCS game 1 after considering numerous factors. As the Dodgers reached Milwaukee, Roberts told the reporters that Blake Snell will start for the Dodgers against the Brewers on Monday night at American Family Field. Soon after this announcement, Blake Snell dropped a confession.

Apparently, the Dodgers star is fully aware of the challenge the Brewers pose. “I’m not falling for the ‘Average Joes.’ I’m not. I mean, they got the best record in the NL. They’re a really good team.” He said on Sunday, per Dodger Blue.

Snell is not underestimating the Brewers. The Brewers actually have the best record in the National League this season.

In total, the Brewers and Dodgers have met six times in the regular season, with the Brewers winning every game.

Meanwhile, the 32-year-old has allowed two runs with 18 strikeouts in 13 innings across his two starts this postseason. The one against the Reds in the wild card round and the other over the Phillies in game 2 of the NLDS.

Well, both Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow didn’t get enough rest after the Dodgers’ NLDS win over the Phillies. Since these two couldn’t start, it left only Blake Snell and Shohei Ohtani as potential Game 1 starters against the Brewers.

However, since Ohtani doesn’t pitch on fewer than five days’ rest, Snell was the obvious choice. And well, the veteran southpaw wouldn’t require much run support from Dodgers’ star-studded offense.

On the other hand, Brewers manager Freddy Peralta shared that the team will go with an opener for Game 1, and both Jose Quintana and Quinn Priester are likely to pitch in bulk.

While going with Snell seems like the right move, Dave Roberts is still uncertain about the team’s World Series chances this year, guys.

Dodgers manager expresses doubt about World Series hopes

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is not yet over Shohei Ohtani’s struggles in the NLDS as the NLCS approaches. Apparently, Ohtani went 1-for-18 at the plate against the Phillies. He walked twice and drove in only one run.

According to the skipper, he needs to get a little better at the batter’s box to increase the team’s chance to win the World Series. “We’re not going to win the World Series with that sort of performance,” Roberts said.

“So we’re counting on a recalibration, getting back into the strike zone, and understanding when he faces left-handed pitching what they’re going to try to do—crowd him in, off (the plate), and spin him away. He’s just got to be better at managing the hitting zone. I’m counting on it. We’re all counting on it.” He added. That game against the Phillies, where Ohtani struggled, had put him at a disadvantage due to Philadelphia’s strong left-handed pitching in both the starting rotation and bullpen.

Roberts agrees on that, too, that a lot of it was actually driven by the left-handed pitching. The two-way phenom batted .056 in the Phillies series. It’s way too surprising given his typical production.

Despite all that, Ohtani wasn’t as bad during the regular season as he was in the postseason against those guys, per Roberts. That being said, this series against the Brewers should give Ohtani more favorable matchups.