The question was inevitable, even if David Roberts he found the narrative too convenient.
After a spectacular start to the season on an offensive level, Dodgers star Mookie Betts It had cooled down in recent weeks. Entering Thursday, Betts was in a 1-for-25 slump. He was hitting .236 with a mediocre .685 OPS over his last 32 games since April 29. His underrated power was also gone, after hitting just four home runs in his previous 54 games.
So Roberts was asked Thursday afternoon if Betts’ workload as an everyday shortstop (the position he switched to this spring for the first time in his MLB career) was affecting his production at the plate.
No, the manager stated flatly.
“I think the easy, lazy answer is (that his recent problems are due to) his workload at shortstop,” Roberts lamented. “I think this is one of those situations where the world would wait for Mookie to start not keeping warm and say that’s why.”
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A few hours later, Betts silenced that narrative, at least for one night.
in a 11-7 victory that prevented the Dodgers from being swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Betts led the offense by recording two hits, reaching base four times and, above all, hitting a three-run home run in a six-run fifth inning, helping the Dodgers to be swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Dodgers walk away in what was a back and forth battle from the start.
Thursday was the kind of breakout performance Betts often provided in the early weeks of the season, when he hit .368 in March and April while playing full-time shortstop for the first time as a pro.
Back then, Betts’ two-way excellence was impressive. It was a testament to his defensive versatility, after spending most of his MLB career as a Gold Glove right fielder, as well as his ability to handle the increased workload that comes with relearning a position. so fundamental.
“I have no words,” Roberts said recently about Betts’ move to shortstop. “I don’t think it’s ever been done at this level, for this level of player.”
But as Betts’ numbers declined, speculation began to heat up. That the demands of playing shortstop were diminishing his offensive productivity. That his countless hours of pregame defensive drills were taking their toll on his body. That his position change was having the kind of unwanted side effects that some fans (and Dodger officials) feared when he first made the change.
It was thought that even a former MVP could only handle a limited amount for a certain amount of time.
However, when asked Thursday about that theory, Roberts scoffed.
That “narrative,” Roberts said, overlooked the fact that Betts has long been prone to cold spells as a hitter. He dismissed a simpler explanation that his swing was a little off, leading him to “miss some pitches” that he would normally punish.
“I just want time to pass,” Roberts said, before blaming Betts’ shortstop workload. “I trust his work. I know it’s going to hit. He has improved a lot at shortstop. And we still have a baseball club first. He is still a pretty good player.”
Betts recanted Thursday.
Betts led off the game with a single, sparking a four-run first inning highlighted by Freddie Freeman’s three-run blast, his eighth home run of the year.
The Pirates (29-33) finally came back, scoring Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler for four runs (three earned) in a start marred by poor defense (the Dodgers made two errors behind Buehler and let three more balls playables would result in hits) and a two-run homer by Nick Gonzales that tied the game in the bottom of the third.
But then Betts helped the Dodgers (39-25) regain the lead for good.
In a six-run fifth inning that also included a solo home run by Teoscar Hernández (his 13th of the season, fifth-most in the National League), an RBI double by Kiké Hernández and a scoring error on a base attempt stolen , Betts provided the exclamation point.
On a 1 and 1 count against Pirates reliever Ben Heller, Betts squared a sinker over the heart of the zone. The three-stroke explosion traveled 410 feet, immediately passing the wall in the center. And as Betts rounded the bases, calmly celebrating his 10th home run of the season with a point to the team’s dugout and bullpen, the futility of his recent struggles quickly faded from his memory.
Of course, it will take more than one big game to completely negate Betts’ shortstop narrative.
The 31-year-old still receives as many daily pregame ground balls as any infielder on the team. He’s still learning the intricacies of being an everyday shortstop (something that became evident Thursday with a second-inning throwing error and a couple more misplayed ground balls). He’s still trying to prove that he can not only handle shortstop every day, but also sustain elite-level production with the bat in the process.
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It is not an easy task.
But from the Dodgers’ point of view, it’s not impossible either. Especially for a player as uniquely talented as Betts.
“When you’re in this, when you’re fighting, you don’t feel very good,” Roberts said. “But he is self-dependent. He’ll be fine. “I’m not worried about him.”
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This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
