After establishing himself as one of the best right fielders in baseball, Mookie Betts took on the challenge of becoming the Los Angeles Dodgers’ starting shortstop this season.
Betts was originally slated to be the team’s second baseman, but moved to shortstop at the end of Spring Training due to Gavin Lux’s defensive struggles at the position.
Betts entered the year with only 16 games of MLB experience at shortstop, but he embraced the opportunity to play the position on a regular basis. He prepared for the change by doing more infield work before games, and that has continued into the season.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Betts will eventually scale back on the extra preparation he puts in as the season progresses, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“That will happen,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if it’s gonna happen in June or July. It will happen. But I think it’s just more, for us, leaving it to him that whenever he feels the confidence that he can kind of manage his prep work, at that point in time, he will. But I just trust him in the sense of, he knows what it takes to get ready.”
Betts acknowledged earlier this season that he might work too hard at times, but would rather potentially over prepare than take a day off.
Betts has had some ups and downs at shortstop, but overall has done an admirable job. “Yeah, I think I’ve definitely made some strides, but they’re some pretty short strides,” Betts said.
“I can’t speed it up, there’s no way to really speed it up. As bad as I want to, as bad as I want to be good at it, it’s hard. It’s hard for everyone, and I just started doing it, so experience is going to be the only thing that’s really going to teach me.”
Andrew Friedman: Mookie Betts becoming Dodgers shortstop was ‘selfless act’
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman recently credited Betts for his willingness to move to a new position. The change has led to more opportunities at second base for Gavin Lux and Andy Pages in the outfield.
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