Mookie Betts has long been considered one of the best right fielders in baseball, but he took on a new challenge this season as the starting shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Betts was originally penciled in 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, all of which came last season. Despite his lack of experience, he embraced the opportunity to play the position on a regular basis.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman credited Betts for his willingness to move to a new position, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“I don’t think enough has been made of how much of a selfless act it was for Mookie to accept the challenge of moving to a new position,” Friedman said. “It goes back to just caring about winning and if this helps us win, he’s all for it.”
Friedman and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts have both praised Betts on numerous occasions. The latter recently said that he now feels comfortable enough to let Betts play the full nine innings at shortstop and not substitute him late in the game.
Betts has had some ups and downs at the position, including a bit of a slump with a few errors, but overall, there’s been more positives than negatives.
Aside from his solid work at shortstop, Betts has continued putting up MVP-caliber numbers at the plate. He is hitting .337/.434/.548 with 14 doubles, three triples, eight home runs, 30 RBI, 41 runs scored and nine stolen bases in 231 plate appearances (53 games).
Andrew Friedman believes Mookie Betts could be Dodgers’ long-term shortstop
Friedman previously said he is impressed with how quick Betts has taken to his new position but hasn’t decided whether the Dodgers will look to add a shortstop at the trade deadline.
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