“Please address the elephant in the room” - Dodgers fans lash out at Dave Roberts’ confidence despite team’s offensive struggles 

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently expressed his confidence in his players, but their fans do not share the sentiment as their offense has shown signs of struggle. Now into Roberts' eighth season as manager of the LA side, he has seemingly been given all the talent he could ask for since the time he joined them.

Despite the team showing some offensive struggles in recent games, the manager does not seem to be too concerned with what he has seen so far. However, several fans on social media did not share his confidence and made their feelings clear, calling for some changes.

“Please address the elephant in the room,” wrote one fan on X/Twitter. "We need a new manager!" added another.

"Does he really have a choice?" wrote @BTWetzel on X.

"Terrible for some time now but nothing has been done," added @KingSmoker_24.

"The manager has to be the captain of the ship, if it sinks, he goes down with it," wrote @StevePh84420573.

"We believe in Dodgers, but not in Roberts," wrote @moynaldinho.

"They will keep struggling," wrote @MrMojoRisin70.

"I kinda agree with him but to a point," wrote @RobbyDuzIt.

"Something just doesn't feel right about this team," wrote @RichCullen9.

Dave Roberts had a decade-long career as an MLB player before he started his coaching career with the San Diego Padres in 2011. He was then appointed Dodgers manager in 2016, taking them to one World Series title since then. Apart from the shortened season when they won the title, the Dodgers have made the playoffs every single year under Roberts but struggled once they got there.

This season, with the team having spent over a billion dollars on players, expectations are higher than they have ever been, putting Dave Roberts under a lot of pressure. It is no surprise that fans are already upset, but there is a long season ahead and their performance in the second half of the year will ultimately determine how it is remembered.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts calls for more consistency from starting pitchers

While the Los Angeles Dodgers currently sit at the top of the NL West table with a 12-9 record, they have shown plenty of cracks in their armor. Most notably, their starting pitching ranks 13th in the league in WAR, which has placed more pressure on the bullpen as a result.

Speaking to the media recently, Roberts was asked whether he thinks the starters have been consistent. He replied:

"I’d say kind of overall, probably not."

Only 21 games have been played in the MLB season and there is a long way to go. Yet, the manager's comments will likely spur their star-studded rotation, which includes Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and James Paxton among others.