DENVER (AP) — Mookie Betts has played strong defense in his first full season as a shortstop, but the recent outfield play for the Los Angeles Dodgers has manager Dave Roberts fielding questions about whether the 2018 AL MVP would be more valuable to the team in right field.
Outfield defense has been a problem for Los Angeles, and Roberts called out Teoscar Hernández’s play in right after Monday night's 4-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Hernández failed to catch Ezequiel Tovar’s high popup that landed for a double in the ninth inning, and Tovar scored the winning run two pitches later.
But Roberts isn’t ready to move Betts from shortstop, where he has played all but one inning this season. Betts entered Tuesday night with a .984 fielding percentage and has committed just six errors in 376 chances.
“There’s got to be an alternative, right?” Roberts said before Tuesday night's game against Colorado. “And I think right now, the way Mookie’s playing at short, not bouncing him around, I think we feel very good about it.”
Betts met with Roberts after Monday night’s loss but the manager said it was just to check in.
“Mookie pops in my office all the time and we were just talking about his swing,” Roberts said. “I wanted him to check in with me about where he’s at, certain checkpoints as we go through the season, and that was a check-in.”
The Dodgers have options in the outfield, but Michael Conforto has struggled at the plate and Tommy Edman, Kiké Hernández and Hyeseong Kim are on the injured list.
Edman and Hernández can play infield and outfield, which would strengthen the defense.
Teoscar Hernández, despite his recent offensive struggles, is a stronger option with the bat than Conforto. The slugger had an RBI double in the first inning Tuesday night that gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
“Given everything that we were going through, we’ve gone through, we’re still finding ways to win a lot of ballgames,” Roberts said. “Just in totality, we can all do a better job, all of us. And so I just refuse to try to pin it on one position, one person. ... That’s just not what I do."
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Michael Kelly, The Associated Press
