The Los Angeles Dodgers are back on the field for Spring Training, ready to defend their World Series title. While the main chatter has centered around Shohei Ohtani and his pitching sessions, one of the more underrated topics of discussion involves Mookie Betts and his change of positions.
A few months ago, it was announced that Betts would most likely move from right field to shortstop for the 2025 season. It’s a position that he moved to last spring, but after he missed two months with a fractured hand, he moved back to right field upon returning to action.
Now he is back at short, and is relishing in the opportunity.
Mookie Betts Transitions From Right Field To Shortstop
“He certainly felt he had unfinished business,” manager Dave Roberts told MLB.com. “He popped out to right field because it was the right decision at that time given our roster. But I do feel that…he wanted to really give himself the best chance to be a top performer at short.”
Betts has won six Gold Glove Awards at right field and now has a chance to do the same playing in the infield.
He played admirably last season at the position but did struggle at times with the transition. Eight of Betts’ nine errors at shortstop were throwing errors. The difference in throwing from the outfield versus the infield is massive.
It is something that he has worked on a lot this offseason, and something that his manager has already noticed a drastic improvement.
“It’s two grades better already,” Roberts said. “Action-wise, confidence-wise. There was some uncertainty, rightfully so, last year. Where just the confidence is extremely high right now.”
Mookie Betts is one of the best players in all of baseball, so making this transition is something that he will certainly conquer, and become one of the top shortstops in the game.
