"I'm not buying Mookie Betts, Dave Roberts theory" - Padres All-Star dismisses Dodgers superstar and manager's narrative after winning World Series

If there was one team that challenged the World Series champion LA Dodgers — whose roster comprises Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, among others — it was the San Diego Padres. The Padres pushed the Dodgers not only during the regular season but also in the postseason. In the NLDS, the Padres took a 2-1 series lead after winning Game 3.

However, the Dodgers rallied to win the next two games and eliminate the Padres in an epic showdown. Discussing the Padres on a podcast, Betts and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts referred to the Dodgers as the best team in baseball, "top to bottom."

Padres All-Star pitcher Joe Musgrove, while acknowledging the Dodgers' "impressive" season, pushed back on that claim.

"The best team top to bottom — but I mean, it doesn’t matter a whole lot," Musgrove told Marty Caswell (15:42 onwards). "You can look as good as you want, but it comes down to how well you play in a five-game series. They played extremely well."

"I’m not buying into that whole Mookie and Dave Roberts theory now, where it’s like, ‘Oh, Mar for the best' ... I don’t think we need to hear all that," Musgrove added. "It was pretty impressive to see how they managed to stay in first place all year and push all the way through to a World Series. It’s a hell of a season by them."

Joe Musgrove laments what went wrong in NLDS series against Dodgers

During the same segment, Joe Musgrove recalled the things that went into disarray during their five-game NLDS loss against the Dodgers.

"I don’t feel like we did a whole lot in that series to give games away," Musgrove said. "Maybe there were a few missed opportunities — you make a few pitches here, you get a base hit there, the game changes. But that’s baseball, and that’s what makes the games what they are. Certain teams make pitches, and some teams don’t."

"You look at the way the game finished — Darish pitches his ass off, throws two games, seven innings nearly hitless, for his last two starts of the year, and it still doesn’t go our way."

The main issue with the Padres in that series was their lack of offensive production compared to their strong pitching. After taking a 2-1 lead in the series, the Padres were shut out in Game 4, losing 8-0. In Game 5, the Dodgers clinched the series with a 2-0 win, advancing to the NLCS.

With the whole offseason ahead of them, the Padres will look to close the gap on multiple fronts and aim to overcome the Dodgers next season.