Mookie Betts hasn't performed shortstop repeatedly since he was in highschool. And whereas the transfer could appear surprising, Betts has gained six Gold Gloves in a rowSo if anybody is destined to make this transfer profitable, is he-really?
Mike Petriello at MLB.com broke down the (admittedly restricted) knowledge we’ve got from Betts' spring coaching in short to offer us a preview of what to anticipate this season.
Right here's how Betts did it
- 6-for-6 on pop-ups that any fielder value his salt ought to be capable to sustain with
- 27-for-31 on straightforward pitches, together with a number of double performs, exhibiting a promising degree of much-needed consistency on the place.
- 0-for-8 on what Petriello calls “practically unimaginable” performs, which had a ten% likelihood or much less of being become outs. I that had a ten% likelihood or much less of being become outs. We are able to't all be good, now can we?
- Three errors, all on performs that Statcast estimated at a minimum of a 90% success price: In different phrases, most shortstops ought to be capable to make these.
- A really spectacular recreation, by which Betts moved in a sluggish roll from the bat of the Washington Nationals Lance Thomas, one of many quickest runners within the majors. Betts was capable of throw simply, and whereas that doesn't look terribly spectacular, it's one thing for an outfielder turned shortstop.
It's nonetheless early, and there are solely so many video games to research right here, nevertheless it's definitely fascinating to see the place Betts and the Dodgers infield is likely to be headed.
Dodgers Hyperlinks
Gavin Lux says he feels good bodily and appears to be coping with the psychological problems with being moved from shortstop to second base on the finish of the discover, writes Fabian Ardaya in The Athletic. Though Lux insists he has no bother pitching, he’s desperate to shake off the rust of not taking part in for a whole season and transfer on to second.
Normal supervisor Brandon Gomes is standing by the MLB Network radio show to debate the shuffle to shortstop for this season, however after all, all of it comes down to at least one factor: win extra video games.
We all know the matchups for the season-opening sequence in South Korea, however what do these selections imply for the groups? Fabian Ardaya and Dennis Lin on the Athletic break down the significance of every begin for Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove.
