After establishing himself as one of the best right fielders in baseball, Mookie Betts has taken on a new challenge this season as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ starting shortstop.
Betts was originally slated to be the team’s starting second baseman, but moved to shortstop at the end of Spring Training due to Gavin Lux’s defensive struggles at the position.
Despite not having much time to prepare for the position change, Betts has more than held his own at shortstop this season, and even grades out well by some metrics.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has been impressed with the strides Betts has made, via Levi Weaver and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic:
“Just watching him back then, it was a great athlete trying to play one of the most demanding positions on the field, outside of catcher. It was happening quick. It was hard to imagine,” he said last weekend.
“As much as you want to believe in Mookie and anything he can do, it’s just something that was really unprecedented. But as I look here today, he looks like a shortstop. And I think that happened over the last week to 10 days.
“Now I see a shortstop standing at that position. It went from an athlete to then an outfielder playing the infield to then a second baseman playing on the other side of the diamond to now he looks like a shortstop. I marvel at how fast he’s done that.”
Betts’ quick progress at shortstop is nothing short of remarkable as he primarily played the outfield in his first 10 MLB seasons. However, Roberts is not surprised at all by Betts’ success due to his athleticism and work ethic:
“It’s not to say you’re not hopeful. If there’s anyone you can bet on, it’s him,” Roberts said. “But for anyone to say they can’t doubt something that has never been done, that’s a lie. You haven’t seen it, let alone in this small of a window. I think he doubted it. I know he doubted it. But he didn’t run from it, I promise you that. And I’ve seen that every single day.”
Betts had only 16 games of MLB experience at shortstop prior to this season, which all came last year. It was Betts’ first professional action at the position since 2013 when he was a Minor Leaguer in the Boston Red Sox organization.
Mookie Betts would rather ‘overwork’ than take day off
Betts’ ability to seemingly get better each year does not surprise his Dodgers teammates or coaches in the slightest. The 31-year-old is one of the hardest workers in the league and takes his preparation very seriously.
Betts acknowledged that he might work too hard at times but would rather over prepare than take a day off.
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