{"id":95361,"date":"2025-08-31T10:02:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T10:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=95361"},"modified":"2025-08-31T10:02:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T10:02:12","slug":"dodgers-news-fans-shocked-to-learn-mookie-betts-future-is-not-in-right-field-what-position-will-he-take","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=95361","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers News: Fans shocked to learn Mookie Betts future is not in right field what position will he take"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Everyone can stop wondering. Mookie Betts isn\u2019t moving back to right field<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Dodgers<\/picture><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts prepares to throw to first base during a game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. Dave Roberts has no plans to move Betts back into right field.<\/div>\n
(Carlin Stiehl \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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  • There\u2019s a reason why Dave Roberts says he won\u2019t move Mookie Betts back to right field.<\/li>\n
  • Betts is having a strong season at shortstop and has impressed Roberts.<\/li>\n
  • Confident at shortstop, Betts is even giving advice to Alex Freeland on how to play the position.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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    Dodgers manager Dave Roberts\u00a0wanted to set the record straight:\u00a0Mookie Betts\u00a0is his shortstop.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

    \u201cMookie,\u201d Roberts said, \u201cwill not go to right field.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

    Roberts repeated the phrase a couple of times, as if he was determined to quash any speculation about another late-season position change for Betts.<\/p>\n

    \u201cMookie,\u201d Roberts said again, \u201cwill not go to right field.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

    There it is, directly from the man who hands the lineup card to the umpire every night.<\/p>\n

    So ignore the noise and\u00a0stop the chatter.<\/p>\n

    Mookie Betts is\u00a0the Dodgers\u2019 shortstop.<\/p>\n

    Betts is the Dodgers\u2019 shortstop now, Betts will be the Dodgers\u2019 shortstop next week, and Betts will be the Dodgers\u2019 shortstop in the postseason.<\/p>\n

    The only times Roberts said he envisioned Betts returning to right field was late in games in which the Dodgers ran out of bench players.<\/p>\n

    A situation like that came up a few weeks ago in a game against the\u00a0Angels. Miguel Rojas, an infielder, was deployed as a pinch hitter in the top of the eighth inning and remained in the game at shortstop. Betts defended right field for an inning.<\/p>\n

    Roberts isn\u2019t sticking with Betts at shortstop because of their close relationship. He\u2019s sticking with Betts at shortstop because of how Betts has played the position.<\/p>\n

    Betts entered his team\u2019s weekend series\u00a0against the Arizona Diamondbacks\u00a0leading all major league shortstops in defensive runs saved (15).<\/p>\n

    He was ninth in outs above average (four).<\/p>\n

    He was also fifth in fielding percentage (.985).<\/p>\n

    \u201cWhen you\u2019re talking about shortstop play, you\u2019re looking for consistency, and I\u2019ve just loved the consistency,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cHe\u2019s made every play he\u2019s supposed to make, and then the last couple weeks, he\u2019s made spectacular plays. He\u2019s been a big part of preventing runs. \u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

    Roberts is equally, if not more, encouraged by how Betts has looked.<\/p>\n

    \u201cRight now, it\u2019s all instinct instead of the technical part of it, how to do this or that,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI think he\u2019s free to just be a major league shortstop. I truly, to this day, have never seen a position change like Mookie has.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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    \"Dodgers<\/picture>\n
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    Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts throws to first base after forcing out Padres baserunner Freddy Fermin at second on Aug. 15.<\/div>\n
    (Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

    A six-time Gold Glove Award winner as a right fielder, Betts moved to shortstop late in spring training last year when it became evident the team didn\u2019t have an everyday player at the position. The last time he spent significant time at shortstop was in high school.<\/p>\n

    By mid-June, Betts was about a league-average shortstop but further progress was derailed by a broken hand that landed him on the injured list. When Betts was activated a couple of months later, he returned as a right fielder. He remained there throughout the\u00a0Dodgers\u2019 World Series run.<\/p>\n

    However, Betts was determined to take another shot at playing shortstop. Unlike the previous year, he was able to train at this position over the offseason, working with Dodgers coaches and former All-Star shortstop\u00a0Troy Tulowitzki. The preparation has made a noticeable difference.<\/p>\n

    Betts has improved to where he now feels comfortable dispensing advice on how to play the position, regularly offering pointers to rookie infielder\u00a0Alex Freeland.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s the smallest details,\u201d Freeland said. \u201cI give him so much credit because he makes the small things matter the most because a lot of those smaller details go overlooked by a lot of players where they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, we don\u2019t need to focus on that, something so minute, it\u2019s not going to matter.\u2019 But Mookie takes all the small details and makes them very important.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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    Roberts expected this of Betts, whom he considers one of the team\u2019s leaders alongside Freddie Freeman and Clayton Kershaw. He pointed to how Betts has carried himself in the worst offensive season of his career, his relentless work resulting in him batting .329 over the last three weeks.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI love how Mookie is always accountable,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThere\u2019s been times where he\u2019s been really good and times he hasn\u2019t but he\u2019s never run from having the conversation or owning the fact that he\u2019s underperforming. His work has never wavered. So for me, that\u2019s something that when you\u2019re talking about one of the leaders in your clubhouse, it really resonates with everyone, coaches included. I\u2019m always going to bet on him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

    So much so that Roberts has wagered the season on him.<\/p>\n

    Mookie Betts is his shortstop \u2014 now, next week and in the postseason.<\/p>\n

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