LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expressed shock and disappointment before Friday night's game at the news of Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon's 80-game suspension for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.
News of the suspension came shortly after Thursday's 5-2 loss to the Marlins, in which Gordon drove in the tying run and scored an insurance run in the seventh inning.
Roberts and Gordon have an intertwined history with the Dodgers, despite never being with the team at the same time. Both were in the National League West from 2011-14 when Gordon was in Los Angeles and Roberts was a coach with the Padres. While competing against Gordon during that time, Roberts didn't see anything out of the ordinary in Gordon's development.
"Sometimes, you got to chalk it up to maturation and your body filling out," Roberts said. "I really don't know Dee's whole story on what happened, and I really haven't dug too deep into it as far as him not knowing what he was taking. I can't even speak to that. In this series, like I said, I'm shocked."
Gordon was able to play in the series while appealing the suspension, during which he went 4-for-19 with a double and three runs. Roberts supported the process that allowed the player to do so.
"I think it's one of those things that we got to let due process run its course," Roberts said. "That's what we signed, as far as the Collective Bargaining Agreement. That's the way it is. Did he impact our series? Absolutely. But we knew going in that every player has that process to go through."
There was a mixture of reactions within the Dodgers' clubhouse, where many players are former teammates of Gordon's.
"Some players were upset," Roberts said. "You see social media and some guys are outspoken about things and some guys not so much. I can only speak to how I felt."
Ultimately, Roberts took the news as another signal that while PEDs have become less of an issue in the league, there is still work to do in keeping the sport clean.
"I think that it's as clean as it's been, just my opinion," Roberts said. "I'm surprised by the guys that are coming out, testing positive. Major League Baseball and the union [Players Association] are trying to do everything they can to clean it up, and we obviously have more work to do."