Mookie Betts completed his first full season at shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers after moving back to outfield last year but making the transition in Spring Training.
His offensive numbers took a big dip this season even after a quality final two months, which included being named the National League Player of the Week from Sept. 8-14, but Betts’ glove was quality throughout.
“I take a lot of pride in it because at the start of the season I wasn’t sure I would end the season there,” Betts said of his play at shortstop. “I thought there may have to be adjustment at some point because from lack of trust or whatever.
“I’m just proud of myself for making it all the way through the year and actually achieving a goal that I kind of set out to do, and that’s being a Major League shortstop, and say I did it and I’m good at it.”
Betts has credited teammate Miguel Rojas, Dodgers first base catch Chris Woodward and his friend Ryan Goins as two people who offered valuable advice. Goins spent eight seasons in the Majors as an infielder and is currently a bench coach with the Los Angeles Angels.
The Dodgers shortstop gained confidence in himself on defense once he started playing loose.
“When I started playing short and I didn’t have to think about it. I could just go out there and play,” Betts said. “And now when I go out and play shortstop, it’s like I’m going out to right field. I don’t even think about it.”
As Betts’ reps at shortstop grew, so did his confidence. It had also paved the way for him to adopt a new mindset on defense.
“When the ball comes, have fun,” he said.
Since Betts made the switch to shortstop last season, there has been plenty of discourse about how it affected him at the plate. To hear Betts say it himself and in a reversal from messaging throughout the year, it did impact him offensively.
It wasn’t the physical toll, but rather a mental issue Betts needed to work through.
“I think probably when that moment I had where I could just go have fun, play short, then I could kind of flip my brain back to hitting,” he explained. “It’s hard to go back and forth.
“It’s a learned skill going back between offense and defense. And when I was in right, I didn’t have to do that. I was just playing right. I didn’t have to think about playing right.
“So, at first, I was playing short and had to think about everything with short, what came with that. And then had to flip it back to offense. Once short became where I didn’t have to think about it anymore, I could really think about offense.”
Mookie Betts shines in Dodgers wheel play
Betts’ impressive play at shortstop reached a new high during the NL Division Series as he was part of the Dodgers completing a wheel play that loomed large in their Game 2 win.
However, Betts was more interested in putting the spotlight on Freddie Freeman digging out a low throw from Tommy Edman for the final out of the game.
“Freddie’s play was way harder than the wheel play,” Betts said. “That was a tough situation. But, I mean, like I said, you get a group of guys together and you just figure out ways to win.
“It’s not always going to look pretty, but you just figure it out. Sometimes you’ve got to go rogue. Sometimes you’ve got to do things that aren’t normal.
“But that’s just the beauty of the knowledge that we have on this team, the talent we have on the team and the love for each other.”
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