Dave Roberts brushes off three-peat pressure as Dodgers embrace villain role

We're now more than five months removed from Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts promising to "ruin baseball," and Roberts hasn't loosened his embrace of the villain role. Why should he?

Following Thursday night's Opening Night win for LA, which was preceded by a pregame hype video on the jumbo screen at Dodger Stadium featuring the quote, “What’s wrong with being the bad guy?’’, Roberts leaned into the whole bad guy narrative.

“That’s self-proclaimed,’’ Roberts said, per USA Today's Bob Nightengale. “So I’m going to embrace it. I don’t know, I guess people like a villain. That’s respect in some way. So, I don’t know, I guess that’s a good thing.’’

Dave Roberts, Dodgers don't seem to care about pressure or being labeled villains

No Dodgers fan would have been worried to see LA lose on Opening Day, but Roberts' club took care of business — and then some — on Thursday in a performance that showcased their relentless offense.

As has become a yearly tradition, LA's pitching staff will surely deal with its imperfections this season, but the Dodgers' star-studded collection of bats will always feel capable of powering a three-peat.

If the Dodgers do indeed win again, it'll be the first time in the history of the sport that a team from the National League has three-peated, and just the third time overall. The Athletics are the only franchise other than the Yankees to have three-peated, doing so from 1972 to 1974.

Roberts acknowledged the rarity of the feat on Thursday, and used it to craft a narrative communicating that, contrary to assumption, there isn't that much pressure on his club this season.

"(A three-peat is) unprecedented in the National League," Roberts said, per Nightengale. "So that’s where it’s more like everyone’s hopeful, excited about it on that potential. But it’s not necessarily a pressure thing in my opinion.’’

Roberts has a way of shifting the media narrative in his team's favor, but his candidness and honesty in all matters make him impossible not to believe. For instance, Roberts has been completely open about his belief that the current Dodgers roster is the best that he's had during his time at the helm in Los Angeles. A less honest and open manager than Roberts would have kept such a belief to himself, so as to guard against complacency in the clubhouse.

Roberts would prefer to tell it like it is. He knows that baseball performance — not narratives — will determine whether or not his Dodgers end up in the history books once again this fall. If they are labeled villains or destructors of the sport while doing so, that's not Roberts' problem to lose sleep over.