Why Does an MVP Outfielder Play Shortstop? Because he can.

LOS ANGELES — Mookie Betts came back from paternity leave, his car was stuck in a traffic jam in Chicago for what seemed like an eternity and he arrived late at Wrigley Field for that night’s game.

The Los Angeles Dodgers knew beforehand that Betts would miss the first pitch against the Cubs. And manager Dave Roberts had notified Betts that once he arrived, he would play shortstop for the first time in his major league career – and for the first time in 10 years at any level.

So what was more harrowing for Betts, an All-Star outfielder and Most Valuable Player Award winner: the fear of getting stuck in traffic as the game started, or playing shortstop for the first time in the majors?

“Cabin,” Roberts guessed without missing a beat.

Roberts, in his ninth season as manager of the Dodgers, is known for his superhuman communication with his players. But at this question he sniffed.

“Nah, man, going short for the first time was definitely nerve-wracking,” Betts said over the weekend at Dodger Stadium, where he hit two home runs, drove in three runs, scored three more and made his fifth start. at shortstop while leading the first-place Dodgers to a three-game sweep of the slumping San Diego Padres.

However, Betts’ answer came with a caveat: his debut at shortstop was more stressful as his late arrival prevented him from getting ground balls for the game.

“It was just – bam!” Betts said.

Sometimes, Betts admitted, it’s for the best. Few things rattle him on a baseball diamond, and a decade into his big league career, his antics and abilities no longer amaze his teammates. So his regular substitute at shortstop and second base, in addition to his usual outfield duties, is exactly what they expect of him, as ridiculous as that sounds.

“I mean, the guy bowls 300s in the morning and comes in and hits home runs in the evening,” said first baseman Freddie Freeman, referring to one of Betts’ well-known hobbies. “That man is a special talent. He’s a complete team player, three different positions this year already in the first 37, 38 games. Switching positions and leading every day, it’s a tough job. But if anyone can handle it, it’s him.”

Betts’ increasingly frequent infield assignments have arisen out of necessity. When Dodgers shortstop Trea Turner signed an 11-year, $300 million off-season deal with Philadelphia last year, the Dodgers made a conscious decision to take a step back with their own payroll. The idea was to reset their roster, give opportunities to prospects like infielder Miguel Vargas and outfielder James Outman, and cash in on their year-long win—nine National League West titles in 10 years—without rebuilding.

The Dodgers weren’t so much concerned with cutting their payroll as they were choosing their spot. While lower than last year’s figure, a league-high $270 million, their Salary of $225 million still ranks fifth in Major League Baseball in 2023.

The idea was to play Gavin Lux, a homegrown player with a promising bat, as shortstop and Vargas as second. But when Lux suffered a season-ending knee injury during spring training, plans changed.

What the Dodgers were left with were Miguel Rojas, 34, a veteran he acquired in a trade with Miami over the winter to help Lux adjust to the shortstop, and Chris Taylor, a utility player who was more used to to the outfield.

Enter Betts, who had occasionally played second base, all the way back to his rookie season in Boston. He grew up playing shortstop and dreamed of one day playing in the majors.

“I didn’t think I’d end up going short, but I always told them, ‘Hey, you know, I’m available to do it when it comes down to it,'” Betts said. “And then it came down to it.”

Push-to-sve is a consistent, if sometimes unwelcome, intruder into the game. The Tigers famously moved center fielder Mickey Stanley to shortstop for the 1968 World Series, removing light-hitting regular Ray Oyler. Stanley had never played the position before, but he managed it well, and Detroit defeated the Cardinals in seven games.

Decades later in 2012, Detroit had developed another nasty hole when Victor Martinez suffered a season-ending knee injury. Unlike Lux’s injury, Martinez’s happened well before the season started. So the Tigers signed free agent slugger Prince Fielder and shoved a pleasant, but not particularly graceful, Miguel Cabrera from first base to third.

“You came up shortstop, this should be easy for you,” Dino Ebel, who was the Angels’ third base coach that year and now fills that role with the Dodgers, teased Cabrera when their teams faced each other. stood.

“He was like, ‘Yeah, here I am, playing the left side of the diamond again,'” Ebel said.

Betts was drafted by Boston as a shortstop in 2011 and unlike Cabrera, he had the physique to hold the position long term. But with the All-Star Dustin Pedroia established at second base in the majors and Xander Bogaerts already in the Red Sox system, Betts moved to the outfield. Before his recent cameos, he had last played shortstop professionally in the Arizona Fall League in 2013 and had logged just 112 professional innings at that position.

His first appearance in Chicago had come because Rojas (hamstring) and Taylor (oblique) were injured. But he has now played seven games at the position, including five starts. He committed a throwing error against San Diego on Saturday, but otherwise was error-free, including turning a slick double play while leaping over a sliding base runner on his Chicago debut. Sophisticated statistics suggest that his defensive play at shortstop, in an admittedly small sample, was close to elite, as he was at second base and right field.

The change of position also coincided with some extra pop at the plate: three of his nine home runs came while playing shortstop.

While Betts has won six Gold Gloves as a right fielder, it’s never been a secret that he’s bored in the outfield. His favorite position, he said, “if you could choose, it would probably be short or second, either one.” They are very interchangeable to me. They get the most action and I just feel like that’s where my athleticism plays the most.

He added: “I just told them, ‘I’m a tool, use me.’ I’m here. It’s not like I’m fighting for my next contract. I just want to win.”

Part of that is the security provided to him by a 12-year, $365 million ($30.4 million average annual value) deal he signed with the Dodgers ahead of the 2020 season. The deal has aged well compared to some of the mega deals handed out last season, even beyond Betts’ ability to seamlessly switch to the infield when the team needs him without complaint.

Even as the Dodgers’ roster gets healthy, Betts has put in the work to prove he’s capable of playing the infield in a significant number of innings, with Roberts estimating he could make between 15 and 20 infield starts this season. can get. That number can fluctuate based on performance and team needs.

“When I saw him grab ground balls in spring training, I knew right away that he takes things seriously and he’s not just there to mess around and have fun,” said Rojas.

Betts, who has taken ground balls daily at both second base and shortstop during batting practice for years, regularly compares notes with Rojas as they work together in the early afternoon. Before the series opener with the Padres on Friday, Rojas complimented Betts on using proper technique on a particular backhand play. Betts returned a compliment about Rojas’ correct positioning on a ball in front of him.

“He’s one of the best athletes I’ve ever seen,” Freeman said of Betts. “He wants to do what he’s asked to do, and he makes it look pretty easy.”

That confidence has permeated the clubhouse, with the ultimate endorsement leading up to the series finale in Chicago last month. Roberts considered giving Betts his first start at shortstop, but with Clayton Kershaw scheduled to throw, Roberts made sure to check with his ace to get his blessing.

“He was like, ‘I’m in,'” Roberts said. “And so at that point I think it gave everyone the freedom that if Clayton trusts him then let’s just go do it.”

Wherever the team puts him defensively, Betts exudes calmness. Therefore, Roberts was sure that the car ride from O’Hare Airport to Wrigley Field would have stressed Betts more than playing shortstop in the majors.

“Not only do I marvel at the mechanics of it, but at the heart rate of it,” Roberts said. “Because if you didn’t do anything in a major league game, you would think there would be a little extra anxiety. But with him there is none.”