There are few players in MLB as versatile as Mookie Betts. The native of Nashville, Tennessee is a top athlete. A six-time Golden Glove recipient as an outfielder, Betts was increasingly used as an infielder by the Dodgers.
We saw him play at second base a few times last year, but more recently, the Dodgers have used him as shortstop. Betts was drafted in the fifth round as a shortstop by the Boston Red Sox in 2011, but never played that position in the Majors.
The 30-year-old veteran, who is currently playing his ninth season in major league baseball, is very fond of this new role:
It’s really less hard on the body. I run less so I take fewer steps.
I move two or three steps to my right and then take a relay to the first, instead of 20 steps to my right to catch a ball in the field.
I don’t mean to sound like a lazy person, but I actually feel a difference in my body.
– Mookie Betts
The Dodgers had to find a solution
With the departure of Trea Turner, who signed a mammoth $300 million contract in Philadelphia during the offseason, the Dodgers had to adapt. Los Angeles had the highest payroll in baseball last year at $270 million. They’re down slightly this season to $225 million, which puts them in fifth place in MLB.
The organization decided instead to bet on a few young people who were already knocking on the door. James Outman in particular, who replaced Cody Bellinger as center fielder, is one of the favorites so far to win the title of rookie of the year in the National. Miguel Vargas is another who makes his mark as a second base player with the Dodgers, at just 23 years old.
Gavin Lux was the one supposed to evolve as a regular stopper this year. Unfortunately, the former 2016 Dodgers first-round pick tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, which ended his season before it even started.
This injury came to upset the plans of the organization. Veteran Miguel Rojas and utility Chris Taylor were the two logical choices to fill this infield hole.
Manager Dave Roberts eventually came to try his star player Mookie Betts at shortstop last April. The experiment seems to work. Mookie is happy and the Dodgers have won 16 of their last 21 games. Los Angeles sits first in the National West with a record of 29 wins and 18 losses as of Sunday morning.
Who knows, maybe Mookie Betts will end up winning a seventh Golden Glove. Anything is possible for a player of his caliber.
