Disputes about whether Mookie Betts The opportunity to play shortstop was a long time coming.
The current debate is whether Mookie Betts can play shortstop better than anyone in baseball. This discussion may soon also come to an end.
Because the day after Betts was named a finalist for the Gold Glove Award, he put a huge exclamation point on Thursday. victory in the playoffs with a score of 3:1 over the Milwaukee Brewers with a spectacular play in the top of the ninth inning.
victory leaves the Dodgers win and reach a second straight World Series, a journey they could complete on Friday Game four of the National League Championship Series. And the main reason they're here is because of Betts' solid defense, a six-time Gold Glove winner in the outfield who makes a difficult transition to the center infield look easy.
“I think the only person on this planet who believed Mookie Betts would be in that conversation was Mookie Betts,” Dodger manager Dave Roberts said. “It's just something that's never been done. I can't even – it's unbelievable. Obviously, I have no words.”
Betts tried out the position last year, but Roberts said the confidence wasn't there, so he sent Betts back to the outfield. There was no chance of that happening this fall.
Few understand the complexity of what Betts did better than those who played the position. Still, Miguel Rojas, the man Betts replaced at shortstop—and himself a Gold Glove finalist this season as a utility player—said he wasn't surprised because he's seen how hard Betts works.
“He doesn’t take days off,” Rojas said of Betts, who is often one of the first players on the field for pregame practice and one of the last to leave. “Even when we have a day off, he still goes somewhere and asks how to get better. I think that's the result of working tirelessly every single day. He's never satisfied. He's always trying to get better.”
“For me to be there every single day to watch him perform and his work ethic, it was impressive.”
Part of that work, Betts said, involves watching video of every play he makes on the field. That includes some brilliant ones, like Thursday's ninth-inning play in which he hit the hole to hit a grounder to grounded Andrew Vaughn, then rose up and hit a strong jump throw over his body to first baseman Freddie Freeman for an easy catch by Vaughn.
“I go back and watch all my plays, even the most routine ones, just to see what I can do better,” he said.
Asked if he was ever surprised by what he saw, Betts, who had never made a mistake in the playoffs, shrugged.
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts takes a shoulder leap to retire Andrew Vaughn at first base during the ninth inning of Game 3 of the NLCS on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
“I just do my job. I just do my job by going out and shorting, that's all.
“Once I get to the ball, I have faith and trust in my athletic ability to make the play.”
Rojas, who played six positions in the majors, said playing shortstop is very difficult because of the mental focus it requires. An outfielder might be able to think about his swing on multiple pitches, but a shortstop who defends the infield doesn't have that luxury.
“He had an offensive slump in the middle of the year. But he never let the defense down. And that's really impressive,” Rojas said. “He always told me, ‘Even though I’m a bad hitter now, I’ll never be bad at defense. And I will catch every ball.”
“That’s the mentality it takes to be a really good player.”
He also became a really good offensive player in the postseason. After dropping to a career-low .258 batting average in the regular season, Betts is slashing .297/.381/.459 and tied for the team lead with 11 hits and five extra-base hits in the postseason.
However, numbers and awards mean little to him, he said; Betts cares much more about winning. What about proving yourself at a traffic stop? Others, including his manager, may be surprised, but he is not.
“I know I can do it. I believed in myself. I always believe in myself,” he said. “That was the goal, to be the best I can be. If it was a Gold Glove, cool. If it wasn't a Gold Glove, cool.”
“I can go to bed knowing I did everything I could. That's all I care about.”
Just a season ago there were mornings when he would crawl out of bed, eager to get back to right field. This doesn't happen anymore.
“I would say the best athletes are the guys who work in the dirt,” he said. “It was fun while it lasted. Now I like being in the dirt.”
