Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts moved from right field to a middle infield role before landing on the injured list due to a left hand fracture in June. He is set to return from the IL on Monday but will be moved back to right field, per manager Dave Roberts. Juan Toribio of MLB.com was among those to relay the news on X.
Roberts explained that he and Betts had a conversation about the decision, citing Betts’ comfort level as well as the improved performance of Gavin Lux as part of the reasoning. J.P. Hoornstra of Dodgers Nation relayed video of the comments on X.
“Each player, wherever they’re playing, they’ve got to feel most confident,” Roberts said. “And you have to then, obviously, layer in what’s best for the ball club. And I think that, where we’re at, he is most confident, right now, in right field versus at shortstop. And so, you look at how Gavin’s playing and he’s earned the right to continue to play second base for us.” Betts said the conversation was mostly mutual, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register on X, saying that “you have to be real with yourself” and that he just wants to win.
Betts played plenty of second base as a prospect in the Red Sox’ system but was blocked by Dustin Pedroia and was moved to right field. He then spent the majority of the past decade becoming one of the better players in the sport, winning Gold Gloves in right while also hitting at an elite level, winning American League MVP in 2018.
He continued serving as an excellent right fielder after being traded to the Dodgers but did occasionally toy with his old spot at the keystone. He got into one game there in 2020 and then seven games in both 2021 and 2022. Last year, the experiment took off a bit more meaningfully. Thanks to some injuries to other players, Betts eventually finished 2023 with just over 700 innings in right field but also 485 at second base and 98 at shortstop, his first major league innings at the shortstop position.
The Dodgers were clearly pleased by the work Betts did there because, in December, Roberts declared him the club’s everyday second baseman. Lux was planned to be the primary shortstop but he struggled with his throws in Spring Training and the club decided in the first week of March to flip him and Betts.
It was a fairly unprecedented situation for Betts to attempt to become an everyday shortstop on a club with World Series aspirations during his age-31 season, but he didn’t seem fazed by it. He slashed .304/.405/.488 in 72 games for a 155 wRC+ before his injury. The reviews on the glovework were mixed, as he was credited with four Defensive Runs Saved but -5 Outs Above Average. But for him to be even passable at what is considered to be the sport’s most demanding position with so little experience and at this stage of his career was a testament to his incredible athleticism.
But without Betts for roughly the past two months, the picture has changed. As Roberts alluded to, Lux has caught fire at the plate. He was hitting just .207/.263/.282 through July 7 but has put up a monster slash of .377/.450/.638 since then.
The Dodgers could have put Betts back at shortstop next to Lux but it seems they prefer to roll with the duo of Miguel Rojas and Nick Ahmed there. Both are excellent defenders who haven’t hit much in their careers, but Rojas is having a decent season with a .270/.314/.403 batting line and 103 wRC+. The club also acquired Tommy Edman prior to the deadline and will have him around as another option but he is mostly going to be playing center field, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic on X.
The outfield mix has been a bit more shaky this year, with guys like James Outman, Enrique Hernández and Chris Taylor having rough years. The Dodgers acquired Kevin Kiermaier from the Blue Jays prior to the deadline, but he’s also having a tough year at the plate. Betts is a strong defender in right, 132 Defensive Runs Saved and 54 Outs Above Average in his career, but his move might be more about bumping those guys out of the lineup in favor of Rojas. The fact that the Dodgers even had that choice to make illustrates the value of Betts and why clubs crave versatility in general.
Once Betts is ready to be reinstated, he should be an everyday player in right as the club has Shohei Ohtani in the designated hitter spot. Teoscar Hernández will be in left field while Andy Pages, Jason Heyward, Edman and Kiermaier also pick up some time.
Though the Dodgers once had a nine-game lead in the National League West, it has tightened of late, thanks to a few stumbles from the Dodgers and some strong play elsewhere. The Padres are just 2.5 games back and the Diamondbacks are just one game behind the Friars, 3.5 games back of the Dodgers. Even the Giants are just eight games off the division lead at this point. The Dodgers’ roster is still strong and returning Betts will obviously be a help, though the club is trying to use its flexibility to optimize things for the stretch run.
I’m pretty sure this has nothing to do with the comments he made about the position change on Amaro’s podcast.
Dave Roberts needs to make up his mind! 3 weeks ago it was 2nd Base, Last week it was SS, now this week it’s RF sheesh…It’s like having your favorite employee return to work and you’re so excited you wanna over use them everywhere lol
Agreed! I like him in right field but Roberts said a few days ago that Betts was going back to SS. Now, Betts will be batting second, although he has made it plain that he much prefers leadoff. Boy, don’t break your hand, if Roberts is the manager. The Dodgers were 9.5 games ahead, when Betts broke his hand. Now, they are 2.5 games ahead. Makes sense to irritate your best player, I guess.
Betts always seemed to struggle when Cora would hit him 2nd and Benintendi leadoff. Sone players are just meant to hit in certain spots and Betts is a leadoff hitter.
Where in this article does it say Betts will be batting second when he comes back? Because I am not finding any mention of this at all.
Rsox
Betts has a .917 OPS in 5000 PA hitting leadoff
Betts has a .877 OPS in 420 PA hitting second
The minimal different is almost certainly small sample size noise
maybe not in this article but it has been widely reported Mookie will hit 2nd. Roberts alludes to it in this video at about 15 mins in. youtube.com/watch?v=yI8O3iTkykQ
Yes, I just read his comment in an article in the LA Times. Not mentioned here, though this article does contain a rather cryptic reference to DH.
Watching the games he never seemed to like it and always seemed to thrive hitting leadoff. Seems like the Sox have the same thing going with Jarren Duran
If it was up to me Mookie would lead off. But they never ask me.
Wasn’t in that article. I believe Juan Toribio mentioned it in one of his articles. I read them and delete them. Pretty sure it was Toribio.
Major, major coincidence. One has absolutely nothing to do with the other. More organic than Whole Foods.
This is so the right decision for the team, we have muncy coming back and edman as well.
Ohtani is secretly Dodgers GM and telling Mookie that he should bat 2nd
I’m glad the experiment is over. He has been the worst SS in baseball.
Oneil Cruz and Gunnar have been even worse believe it or not.
Cruz has a million errors and should never be allowed to throw the ball but he grades out well because of his range I guess??
Cruz is a future corner Outfielder or First Baseman masquerading as a SS. Eventually the Pirates will figure that out…
Please don’t be dumb.
Strictly on defensive terms I mean.
Not that it changes that stats but Gunnar made half his errors in a 10 day meltdown. Graded much higher through the all star break. More than half his errors on throws he should have put in his pocket. Like I said – still errors but not reflective of how good he is/will be at SS
DodgerDan – bullsh!t. By what metric. Savant lists both guys higher than Mookie in OAA and Run Value.
Dude look up Oneil Cruz, research helps.
By. What. Metric.
Not a hard question.
I don’t need research toi just watch them play. Betts wasn’t a shortstop. Shouldn’t have been put in that position. Defense stats can be all over the place. One system has Lindor third and one has him in the middle of the pack. He’s one of the best shortstops in baseball. Betts is an excellent outfielder. He’s not a shortstop.
He has far too few IP at SS to make any actual determination, but DRS lists Mookie as a +4 defensive SS.
If you do the research he leads the league in errors, dont be lazy.
I am not defending betts as a defensive SS, I am just stating the fact that Oneil Cruz is worse defensively. Simple fact.
Errors is how you’re grading shortstops? Bizarre. You know there’s metrics like OAA, DRS, UZR, etc that tell far more about defensive performance than errors… right?
Errors lead to other teams scoring runs on occasions, not bizarre. We can go by all those other metrics but an error is an error and they are bad. simple as that. Continue to argue though.
Woah you really have a bone to pick with Cruz…
Are you a dodger fan or a cubs fan in disguise?
Errors are never good, but a player can lack the range to get to balls, which is worse than mishandling a few of the ones a player with better range gets to.
I freaking love cruz, he just needs to polish up a bit.
Dodger fan but respect the cubbies.
Cruz is a Pirate, not a Cub.
The best way to describe Cruz is that he’s a good defender, but not at the same time. He can make some outstanding plays, and his arm has saved many runs, particularly on relays from the outfield (he’s worked as the go-to cutoff man when there is any potential play at the plate, taking throws from left, center, and right field), but he’s had some trouble with making throws, especially over the last two weeks. His defense is definitley better than what fielding percentage says it is. Plus, fielding percentage is horrible to grade infielders anways. Ozzie Smith isn’t even a top 25 shortstop by fielding %, but Jordy Mercer and Jhonny Peralta are.
Yeah he asked if i was a cub fan, I know that.
Over 189 games at SS Cruz is a -8 DRS. Not good. Still not a large enough sample size to say definitively that he is terrible, but enough to put some large question marks next to his future at SS. Considering how strong his arm is, I see a future for him in RF.
Doesn’t Derek jeter have a gazillion negative DRS but he still played shortstop for years?
Cruz could be good at 3B where he only needs a huge arm
3B would be a good home for that arm. You are correct. With his athleticism. I thought he might challenge Tatis for Gold Gloves in RF.
Derek Jeter is the third worst defensive rated shortstop in baseball history but was he really the third worst shortstop in baseball history? No. Defensive metrics are severely all over the place. One might have guy rated real high while it another rates the same player real low. You have to take them with a grain of salt.
gbs
Right
Take two players who make errors at the same rate. Once every 50 chances, let’s say.
SS A has normal range, they have 500 chances in a season. That means (500/50) 10 errors.
SS B has amazing range, they have 600 chances in a season. That means (600/50) 12 errors
SS B made more errors, but they also got 98 more outs
I’d much rather have a SS who gets 98 more outs.
And it doesn’t even have to be that SS B is better. If SS A plays behind ac staff that gets a lot of K’s and flyballs and SS B’s pitchers get more ground balls, then B will have more errors just because of differences in pitchers.
Yes. Jeter was that bad. The Captain continued to play SS because of PR and with the Yankees that is sacrosanct.
Meanwhile in the Dodgers lab they’re busy working to merge Ahmed, Edman, and Rojas into an above replacement level .280-hitting shortstop to be unveiled (coincidentally) the same day Betts is activated. Doing so will eliminate the need for any kind of roster move. Dodgers taking it to the next level as they always do.
I’m not sure he was the worst in baseball, but he is the worst def SS on the Dodgers, so why play him there when he can play OF and play it well.
Yeah “Worst defensive SS for dodgers” to say he was worst SS is just Blasphemy though!
It want even close. He was by far the worst. Should have never been put there.
I meant in the league, clearly Oneil is the worst.
Now explain how you came up with Gunnar
Just by errors man, simple. the dude is the best hitting SS in baseball though.
Bobby Witt is the best hitting SS in baseball. Best overall SS in baseball.
I stand corrected good sir!!
Incorrect, again, but I’m not surprised.
Im suprised you are even here still with the zero facts you have presented. Stop wasting our time.
You’re kind of wasting our time with your narrative that errors definitively determines a player’s defensive abilities. Do you have facts to support that?
Lol DodgerDan thinks he speaks for the masses on MLBTR.
Hilarious. Especially coming from the guy who refused to cite a metric backing up his statement and finally settled on… errors
Pretty Ironic coming from you.
Finally, they come to their senses!
First smart thing the Dodgers have done in awhile. Should have never moved him.
Yeah let’s ignore getting Flaherty.
They’ve traded our signed how many top end starting pitchers? Why should’ve they needed him in the first place? Let’s see if he ends up on the IL.
and you’re telling other people not to be dumb.
Alright they get kudos for getting their 20th starting pitcher since last year and holding off the Padres and Diamondbacks from overtaking them until next week.
the number of starters on their roster is some kind of indictment? ok fine.
They don’t get a pat on the back for needing a new starter every two weeks because they can’t keep anyone healthy or sign people with health problems.
they got the best available starting arm at the deadline. no more. no less. filled a need like any good team would.
Guess the brass in the FO are listening to Mookie. He talked about being unhappy about playing SS and being moved out of leadoff and they acted pretty fast to appease him regardless of that Roberts wanted to do.
Pads…Have any other inside information you’d care to share?
Don’t need inside information when it was in the LA Times and on articles on this website.
my point exactly
Your point is that what I said about Mookie being unhappy about playing SS is public knowledge? Ok. Thanks, I guess
best decision for the team.
Roberts is announcing his decisions just as fast as Friedman and Gomes tell him what to say.
They won’t win a World Series if he’s at short. He’s a terrible Shortstop.
this pig of a team buys everyone and finds a way to hog all the good players by creating IL stints or using players they bought to just buy better players with their endless money so of course somehow Betts getting hurt works out for them where now Ohtani bats leadoff which he should’ve been doing anyway because spoonfed Dave Roberts is a moron and now they bought a new shortstop too
Want some cheese with that whine?
Why would you want your best power hitter coming up with the bases empty an extra time every game? Lacks common sense.
Mickey
Adding Flaberty and Edman was not a lot of payroll. Flaherty just involved trading some depth in a well stocked farm. Edman is more versatile defensively than Vargas. You can whine about how much the Dodgers spent on Ohtani and Yamamoto, but these additions were thoughtful low budget moves.
They bullied everyone else and stole Flaherty. He’s still making a healthy salary and it was another unnecessary purchase after everything they’d already done. He’s a “rental” and yet he’ll end up getting a taste of the glitz and glamour of pitching in his hometown and then the Dodgers will say this offseason “whatever you want we’ll match it” and he’ll be back.
Mickey Mousey
Hah, report is Yankees were ready to acquire Flaherty and backed out due to medical reports. I stand by my earlier comment, Glaherty and Edman were low cost acquisitions made possible by Dodgers’ deep farm system. If you want to whine about Dodger spending, talk about Ohtani and Yamamoto, or even Freeman or Betts, but you have zero credibility whining about Flaherty and Edman.
Hey! Mickey Solis is back. Nothing scarier than a 12 year old with a grudge. Keep being you, Mickey.
Lets lay off Mookie a bit he’s a total team player
It’s great to see him back. Prime Mookie is a good for baseball.
They got a bunch of middle fielders at the deadline. This was a no-brainer….
Acquire a gold glove second baseman and stick him in center, makes perfect sense.
I’m sure Betts is above average at 2nd however BOS would have bumped him to SS not RF if they thought he could have handled the SS position, so too would have LAD when he was acquired. This was out of necessity not by design and now is no longer needed.
This whole plans requires Edman to be healthy and immediately return to his prior high level of play. I liked him before his wrist injury, that he’s coming up on 1yr on that procedure and still hasn’t played. Not an LAD fan, I am bewildered how their Front Office makes so many moves for players in key who are hurt. I suppose the back up plan here is if Edman can’t go Betts to CF and Pages/Heyward platoon in RF?
As this article pointed out, there’s a race in the NL West and this could 2021 all over again where LAD are the Wild Card. Asking Roberts to navigate the pitching staff through 1 extra series…. LOL
More importantly though… when is Brasier coming back???
Another week or two. He’s on a rehab assignment.
Both Brasier and Treinan should be playing by August 20, Brasier could be back up to a week before that if he looks really good.