Poor fielding play, especially from right field, has been a season’s long struggle for the defending World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. That pattern reared its ugly head on Monday night in Colorado as the dreadful Colorado Rockies defeated the Dodgers on a ninth inning walk-off RBI single due to right fielder Teoscar Hernandez failing to catch a bloop hit in his glove. This miscue allowed a runner to move into scoring position with only one out. This play was preceded by a poor fielding play in the third inning when a ball landed right in front of him in the outfield and a poor decision to throw the ball to third base.
Will LA Dodgers Poor Outfield Performance Force Mookie Betts Off Shortstop?
Many have speculated while the lackluster play in the outfield continued if this would lead to Mookie Betts returning to right field, the position where he captured six gold gloves. After Monday’s devastating defeat, reports surfaced of a meeting between Mookie Betts, manager Dave Roberts, and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman which, given the timing, led people to speculate that it was related to Hernandez’s performance. Roberts said that was not the case.
“Mookie pops into my office all the time,” Roberts said, according to the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett. “We were just talking about his swing. I wanted him to check in with me about where he’s at, certain checkpoints as we get through the season and that was a check-in. I hope too much wasn’t made of that. It was a check-in. Which I think is a good thing.”
Dave Roberts Says He Hasn’t Discussed Moving Betts Back to Outfield
Manager Dave Roberts added he has not considered moving Betts back to his natural position at this point in the season.
“I have not,” Roberts told reporters on Thursday. “We have not talked about right field at all. He was saying a lot of things when he was mired in his struggles that I didn’t want to hear, so I don’t know. He might have” Roberts said. “But no, we haven’t talked about it.”
Mookie Betts Having Down Year Offensively
Last season, Betts played shortstop for most of the year before switching back to right field from August through the playoffs, which lead to that World Series championship. This year, he’s been much better defensively at shortstop, but has struggled at the plate with only a .243 average, 13 home runs, 57 RBI.
Despite a down season statistically, Mookie Betts is not someone you count out and he will be expected to deliver for the organization & fan base under the brightest lights. At this point, it’s all about him showing up in September and October. As the postseason creeps closer and the LA Dodgers are holding onto a slim lead in the National League West over the red-hot San Diego Padres, the defending champions may be forced to move their highly-paid pieces around, especially as the importance of defense heightens as we get into October and postseason baseball. It’s moves like this that do not always show up on the stat sheet. The benefit of having a utility guy like Mookie is that he can play anywhere the team needs him to secure a win.
