When the Los Angeles Times reported that Mookie Betts had a “private” meeting with Dave Roberts and Andrew Friedman following the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 4-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies, it made headlines.
Turns out, it was just a run of the mill conversation between Betts and his bosses.
More news: Dodgers’ Mookie Betts Reveals What Meeting With Dave Roberts, Andrew Friedman Was About
Betts told reporters — including Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic — that he went into Roberts’ office on Monday to reiterate how good his swing feels right now.
“For what it’s worth, the door was open as media entered last night so everyone saw Betts in there, and it isn’t an uncommon occurrence for a player or coach to be in there,” Ardaya wrote on X.
Roberts then added some more context, telling reporters that Betts is in his office “all the time.”
“Mookie pops into my office all the time,” Roberts said. “We were just talking about his swing. I wanted him to check in with me about where he’s at, certain checkpoints as we get through the season and that was a check-in.”
He added: “I hope too much wasn’t made of that.”
Roberts also said the team has not discussed right field with Betts at all this season, continuing to reaffirm the team’s commitment to Betts being a shortstop.
More news: Dodgers’ Dave Roberts Calls Out Teoscar Hernandez For Defensive Struggles
Betts has graded out as an above average defender at shortstop this season. While he struggled through the worst offensive slump of his career, he finally appears to be turning a corner, hitting .333 over his last 12 games with an OPS of .889.
The Dodgers clearly have not thought about moving Betts out of shortstop and into right field. Roberts did say after Monday’s game, though, that Teoscar Hernandez has “got to get better” in right field moving forward.
“He’s got to get better out there,” Roberts said after the game. “There’s just no way to put it. I know there’s effort — it’s not a lack of effort. But the thing is, we’ve just got to get better. We do. I don’t know what else to say.”
“He’s got to keep putting in the work to continue to get better,” Roberts added. “It’s just one of those things that, the defense is a big part of postseason baseball and winning baseball. So yeah, he’s just got to continue to get better.”
Photo Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
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2 Responses
Just about every fan wants Roberts to move Mookie to RF and Teo back to LF. Yet Roberts stubbornly sticks to his “game plan” while the team struggles for consistency both defensively and offensively, especially at those two positions. Maybe he doesn’t want to embarrass himself by admitting he made a mistake that has had rather dour consequences, or perhaps embarrass both Mookie and Teo that they need to change positions. In either case, something has to give because fans are understandably upset that each game brings fear that something is going to go wrong either at Short or in RF. I won’t even get into the Conforto thing on this post.
“every fan”? Who elected you spokesperson?