Dodgers end shortstop experiment, move Mookie Betts to right field after all

LOS ANGELES — “Permanent, for now” has reached its end date.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts changed course on Friday afternoon, saying that Mookie Betts will return to the Dodgers on Monday in right field, not at shortstop. This comes just three days after Roberts said the plan would be for Betts to return to shortstop, the position the Dodgers had short-notice him to for Opening Day — despite Betts not having played the position regularly since high school.

Roberts said during spring training that the position change would be “permanent for now,” though he and Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes acknowledged Friday that Betts would likely return to the outfield during the postseason. Betts has been out since June 16 with a broken hand.

There are other realities at play for these Dodgers right now, most notably a division race that has tightened rapidly over the past month. The San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks woke up Friday 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 games behind the Dodgers, respectively, the closest the NL West has been since April 25.

“We’re in a race for the pennant now,” Roberts said. “We’re ahead of any game, so you ask yourself, what’s best for the club?”

When healthy, Betts led the Dodgers to some of the best shortstop production in the sport, surpassing the likes of Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. and Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson in terms of FanGraphs WAR at the position at the time he broke his hand. Much of that was focused on Betts’ bat, rather than his glove, as Betts’ advanced defensive stats were mixed at best.

Mookie Betts said he embraced and enjoyed the challenge of playing shortstop, but called the decision to return to right field “largely mutual.”

“At some point you have to be honest with yourself,” he said, and that best lineup was in the OF.

“I just want to win.”

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Betts has been vocal about appreciating “the challenge” of learning to be an everyday major-league shortstop. It was a ridiculous question, but one that drew praise from across the organization for the strides Betts has made in a short time. The excitement over the new position also included some open frustration from Betts about the growing pains; “The challenge is fun and I embrace it,” Betts said Friday. “But it does keep you up at night.”

Gomes said the question of where Betts would return was one of the “ongoing conversations” the organization has had in recent weeks as the superstar prepares for a potential return. The club acknowledged the delicate nature of imposing another position change on its superstar, even as the player, manager and front office presented the move as a mutual decision on Friday.

First, the Dodgers saw Miguel Rojas perform well as a regular shortstop in place of Betts (although there were concerns that Rojas would not be able to physically handle playing every day, as Rojas went on the injured list with a flexor muscle strain).

In the weeks leading up to the deadline, the Dodgers added three players (Nick Ahmed, Tommy Edman and Amed Rosario) with experience at shortstop. Gavin Lux has performed well of late, making second base — where Betts expected to play much of the winter — a nonstarter.

And the Dodgers continue to get inconsistent production from their outfield. Hitters not named Teoscar Hernández entered Friday’s game batting a combined .205/.287/.339 (an 80 wRC+) with a 0.1 FanGraphs WAR. Adding Betts (along with Edman, who is expected to play center field during his rehab assignment) would be a much-needed boost.

That was also the case on Tuesday. But after a meeting with Dodgers executives on Thursday night, the move was made.

“I think it was just a mutual thing,” Betts said. “But I would say mostly I went to them. I said, ‘Listen, I believe I can do it, but I want to win, man.’ I want to win. I don’t know if me (at shortstop) is the best solution there.”

“It wasn’t something that was hard, or me pushing him there,” Roberts said Friday. “It was like, what’s best (for the team). … This is basically reading the room. Me and him talking.”

Both Gomes and Roberts supported the decision to initially move Betts to shortstop. Roberts said it was the best solution after Lux showed up at spring training and had trouble throwing accurately from shortstop. The team felt Rojas wasn’t up to the task physically. Betts “took on the challenge and, again, it was what the team needed,” Gomes said, praising the results.

But the reality remains that Betts likely would have moved to the outfield in the postseason anyway. Roberts acknowledged that was a turning point, even when the Dodgers first made that move.

“Ultimately, I think we’ll get to the point where many of us thought we’d get to,” Roberts said.

Betts has six Gold Gloves as an outfielder. He has been honest about his preference for playing infield, but saw no reason to push back against a return to the outfield.

“I just want to win, bro,” Betts said. “I really don’t care. I could have said that, but that wouldn’t have been smart. That wouldn’t have been smart, very selfish.

“The challenge of going out there and working — you see how much I love working. I’m out there every day for hours. I love that part. I really love that part. But you also have to be honest with yourself, the team, and do what’s best.”

Betts has been equally open about his preference for hitting leadoff. That will change after Roberts confirmed that the plan is still for Betts to hit second behind Shohei Ohtani, who has hit .290/.403/.661 in the leadoff role since Betts’ injury.

The 31-year-old Betts, who has a career .913 OPS from the leadoff position, acknowledged that an adjustment will be needed to a different spot in the lineup, telling reporters this week that “whatever Shohei says, happens, and then we adjust.”

Roberts denied that Ohtani asked to bat leadoff. “Shohei said the same thing Mookie did,” the manager said. “Wherever you want me to bat, I’ll bat.” Betts hasn’t batted regularly at second since 2019, when he batted behind Andrew Benintendi for the Boston Red Sox.

Betts’ return Monday in Milwaukee will continue a year in which the Dodgers have asked him to move. First it was the expected move from right field to second base. Then, just weeks before Opening Day, it was the unprecedented move to shortstop. Now it’s a move back to right field, and back to the second batting spot for the first time in years.

At least, publicly. Betts agrees.

“There’s only one Mookie,” Betts said. “I don’t care. I want to win. Keep that at the forefront and the rest is just what it is.”

(Photo of Mookie Betts: Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA Today)