Betts returning to right field

LOS ANGELES -- Three days ago, Mookie Betts spent over an hour going through drills at shortstop. In Betts’ mind, the time away recovering from a fractured left hand served as a blessing in disguise, as he was able to spend more time working on his new position.

As Betts was fielding those grounders, manager Dave Roberts announced that the 2018 American League Most Valuable Player was going to continue being the team’s starting shortstop when he returned.

On Friday, Roberts and the Dodgers completely reversed course, announcing Betts is going back to right field, the position he’s won six Gold Glove Awards in.

“I know that I said we want to start with Mookie out there at short, to then give the potential to pivot out there,” Roberts said. “I had a good conversation with him last night. And, I think right now -- and again, things always seem to change -- but right now, we’re gonna kick Mookie out to right field.

“It’s something that … we all feel that’s what’s best for our ballclub now, going forward. And could it change? Potentially. But I think that we all feel comfortable that Mookie needs to get acclimated back out there to right field and giving [Miguel Rojas] the opportunity to play short, within reason, as far as giving him certain off-days to keep them fresh. That’s kind of where we’re at right now.”

The decision to move Betts back out to right field is a logical one for the Dodgers given where their outfield options stand at this point in time. Jason Heyward has struggled offensively, and keeping Betts in the outfield gives them more flexibility in the infield.

However, the decision still comes as a surprise given how much Betts has expressed over the past few months how much he has enjoyed the challenge of being an everyday shortstop in the Majors.

At the beginning of the season, with just five days of prep time to play shortstop, Betts was the early front-runner to win NL MVP. A lot of that was due to how taking down the challenge of playing shortstop on a nightly basis -- something he hadn’t done since high school -- had him as engaged as he’s ever been.

“He’s somebody who puts the team first,” said Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes. “We try to be as open as we can with our players, and we have a great relationship with Mookie. We go back and forth and at the end of the day, he’s just ‘I’m good with whatever. Let’s go win a World Series.’”

When approached about the position change, Betts echoed the sentiment. He repeatedly said that the most important thing for him is to win a third title this season. Betts also added that the back-and-forth of the Dodgers deciding his future position hasn’t bothered him.

“I 100 percent believe in my abilities. I believe I can [play shortstop]. I think it’s the challenge that I really, truly loved,” Betts said. “I don’t know if it was necessarily the shortstop thing, per se. I just haven’t been challenged in a long time. So that task, that challenge to accept and be able to play shortstop in the big leagues, and help the Dodgers? I was going to take it on, and I’m happy I did. I’m definitely proud of myself for doing that. But also, there’s got to be a point where you look at the roster, and I want to put the Dodgers in the best chance to win. I feel like with Miggy and Nick Ahmed, it gets no better than those guys.”

Roberts, Gomes and Betts all claimed the position change was mutual. The Dodgers, however, had to be sensitive to moving Betts out of shortstop and also the leadoff spot. Betts has made it clear that he prefers to hit leadoff and play in the infield. Now, when he returns, Betts will now be tasked with sacrificing those preferences.

"It's just a different position,” Betts said. “I've been saying the whole time, it doesn't matter where I play, as long as I'm playing and helping the team win."