Phillies: David Robertson feels good, eyes midseason return
By Matt Rappa
Then and Now
One of the latter topics WFAN discussed with Robertson in the 20-plus-minute interview was the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal. The right-hander was on the 2017 Yankees ALCS roster and posted an uncharacteristic 9.00 ERA across four appearances.
Robertson mentioned how there was no way Astros players should have been able to pick up some of his pitches when they did. Of course, they would go on to defeat the Yankees and win the World Series, which contributed to Girardi’s departure from the team.
Robertson said he will never not be upset about the Astros cheating, and that is “very frustrating” — putting in a ton of work, “only to realize that they know what’s coming and that it’s nothing that you’re doing.”
“I’m never not going to be upset about 2017. The Astros should be ashamed of what they did. It’s not professional; it’s not fair. They shouldn’t get a pass for it,” Robertson said. “I’m never going to get that season back and that group of guys back in 2017. I’m never going to get to look down the bench and see CC Sabathia again.”
“It’s not fair what happened. It irritates me every time I think about them and that season,” he continued. “We played and gave everything we had. We fell short, and I think we fell short for a reason.”
“It was a tough break for us. I’m just never not going to be upset about that.”
Fast-forward to the unprecedented 2020 season that will soon take place, Robertson said pitching with no fans will take some getting used to: “Being a high-leverage, late-inning reliever, you can come in and swing the momentum to change the whole game, just getting a few guys out. No crowd there is going to be definitely a little different.”
Robertson also discussed the negotiations between MLB and the players.
“I think it just goes back to the agreement we had in March with MLB. We felt that a prorated salary was something we weren’t going to budge on, and MLB had things they weren’t going to budge on,” Robertson said. “MLB was just not willing to give us what we agreed on in March, so that’s why it took so long to get to this point.”
“If a 60-game season is what this is going to be … we definitely could have got it going sooner, but that’s just the way things worked out this year.”