How will Mookie Betts handle the move to shortstop?

Mark DeRosa and Bill Ripken break down how Mookie Betts will perform at shortstop and how that move will impact the Dodgers this season.

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Lauren, I think this is a big ask if anyone in the game can do it. It’s him. But I think there are required. This is a bold statement I’m gonna make, but I think shortstops are born, not made. I think it’s hard to teach someone to be a really good

Shortstop before you get into doing what you do. Um This is an unusual amount of movement and how it’s happening. Usually we’re talking about a shortstop, Simeon maybe going over to the other side of the bay and saying, OK, what are the difficulties there that he’s going to reach?

He played shortstop at 18, I believe is what he said. So I’m gonna go back over there and play full time. My question is for the Dodgers. What are you doing? Um, in one regard here, you made the statement. OK. He’s gonna move in from right field. He’s going to be our everyday

Second baseman and it was emphatic here it is. Boom. And Then two weeks ago in the season, OK, he’s gonna play short. So had it through a few throwing errors and listen, I managed Mookie for six weeks with the W BC. I know he is not a huge fan of

Running out to right field on a daily basis. He wants it in, he wants in on the dirt, but it is crazy. He has won six gold gloves out in right field. He has arguably the best right fielder defensively. He had a higher war than ronald De Cunha Junior last year and he

Went north of 40 north of 70. My question is the shift rules have been changed. Stay on the dirt. You gotta be athletic. He certainly checks that box. Shortstop is a rhythm type position. And I wanna know what they’re giving up potentially offensively. Let’s get into the, into the

Tape a little bit here because we all know what he brings to the table. He’s a top five hitter in the sport and people, he hit 307 with 39 107 ribbies and 12 stolen bases. I mean, this is a guy a Rod was doing like crazy stuff at shortstop, corey Seeger’s ops rivals.

What Mookie’s doing. So that’s the type of offensive profile you’re going for at this position. This is him at second base and Bill, I came up pause this real quick. I played no other position in my life till I got to the big leagues. But shortstop, all I played all

The way through my youth. And when I went over, when rafael Feral showed up Glenn Hubbard’s like you guys start moving around or you’re going back to Richmond. First day I come out to take balls at second base. Clunky. It’s a clunky position for me. I don’t feel like it’s a, it’s

Not a long armed position. It’s not a big athletic position for me. It’s more of that. You gotta be short, tight, you’re making tight moves, your throat feels stagnated a little bit at second base. So it was a very hard transition for Mookie to come in from right field and play second.

You can get away with being a little clunky. Well, first of all, you can kick a ball, knock it down, pick it up and he’s out. You cannot do that. At shortstop, you have to catch , we’re gonna get into it. It’s got so he was able to make this transition.

I didn’t think it was a poetry, emotion, turning the double play , but you can see how it can be effective. Ok. Pause this, where am I going with this at second base? Everything is backwards, your backs to the game. It doesn’t happen on your terms at shortstop.

I always felt like the game was on your access, the field was on your access. What do I mean by that? Every throw was happening towards first base. The whole field was your candy store right here coming across on the double plays, bang, bang , you almost danced.

It was a dancing ballerina type position for me. Well, this is up because what I said about second base earlier, but you can knock a ball down. I think there are some difficulties at second base that the shortstop doesn’t happen. I agree because when it comes to turning double plays now, with

That said, where you’re gonna be on bump plays, no one can wreck you more at second base. So that makes this a little bit easier than it was what you’re talking about where everything’s in front of you. There is a more natural flow at shortstop because everything’s going glove side.

When you start the double play, it’s glove side. When you come across the back turn a double play, it’s glove side. There is a freedom, freedom at that position at this position that you have to have, keep going right here. So I just wanted to present that picture of coming from right

Field to second base being able to be a little clunky. But over the course of a buck 62 your shortstop’s gotta be your best defender. He’s got to be the coolest guy on the infield. And for me, we know there are requirements. You can’t just put anyone at short.

He has to have a bazooka of an arm. He has to be able to go in the hole, set his feet, come up with a rocket. Obviously, he checks that box with the arm, the athletic athleticism. He’s pro arguably the best athlete in the game. He checks that box too.

But like I said, there is a fundamental rhythm to this position and I think no one does it better than Francisco Lindor. And I had a chance to talk to him. Take a listen to what he said. For me it’s, it’s cash step throw. That’s what I’ve been taught. Cash step throw.

That’s what I’ve been taught my whole career my whole life as much as I was little. But it, it changes to, to your point, my internal clock, you know, you, you, you get into that rhythm of like I know I catch it and I got more time. I still haven’t had my grip.

I take one step, an extra step and throw or this one is gonna be a little faster runner, one step and throw. You see him move right there. You see him moving now, I wasn’t a catch step throw. I was a pull to the belt two shuffles and let it eat.

So what I’m saying is run that play back, run that play back right there. He’s coming towards this ball. Go, oops. I kind of lose the rhythm and I step back on this. You do that at shortstop, guys are beating that out at second. You can get away with it. OK?

We know he’s got all the tools. Look at that, you can do that, you can play shortstop. But what I wanna see over 162 is can he find the rhythm of playing that position every day. I wanna go back because when I said, what are the Dodgers doing?

They seem to be an organization and we talk about pitchers on the bump, they seem to have figured out, ok, this guy’s only throwing 90 pitches and that’s it. Everything is predetermined, everything is predetermined. So when they said, Mookie’s gonna play second, that seemed to be predetermined after an offseason, right?

They said, ok, let’s do this for them to change gears halfway through and put a dude at the most valuable defensive position on the field. When you’re the L A Dodgers or any other team at shortstop, he hasn’t played since he was 18. That’s a long time ago to go out

There and say, hey, dude, go play me 100 and 60 games at short because I like the fact you got Freddie Freeman plays every day. This guy plays every day. But can you find, you saw Freddie try and bail out the Braves when he went and tried to

Go over to third base and he could have pulled it off. Guys can pull this off, you can pull it off. But are you your best team if you do? That’s what I, and do you give up a little offense because he’s worried about how he’s got to

Play d on a daily basis.