Dodgers Team News

Dodgers: Mookie Betts Gets the Start at Second Base Tonight

No Dodgers fans, you did not read that headline incorrectly. Mookie Betts will be starting at second base for the first time with Los Angeles. It will be his first start there since 2014 with the Boston Red Sox.

When the lineup was released prior to Thursday’s game, Dodgers fans thought there had ben a mistake. The lineup showed Mookie playing at 2B and Hernandez out in Right Field. Fans were convinced that was an error until Dave Roberts confirmed it. Apparently, Mookie has been asking to play there for a while



Betts had also mentioned to Roberts that the Dodgers might need that flexibility come playoff time. In case you were wondering, yes, Mookie has played a lot of second base throughout his career. It just so happens that he hasn’t done in regularly since his minor league days.

Whatever the case, having Mookie Betts on the field in any position is going to make your team better. The Dodgers will now have even more flexibility to move people around and give them more at-bats with this sort of option in their back pocket. 

Betts has started 39 games for the Dodgers in 2020, with 37 of those starts coming in right field. His only other starts came as the designated hitter. Los Angeles now has at least four guys on their roster than can rotate between infield and outfield at any given time. Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez are the obvious two, with Cody Bellinger being the third. Matt Beaty can sort of do both but the jury is still out on that. 

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12 Comments

  1. Here’s what makes sense: put your players in their correct positions, your lineup in the correct order, and win the game. Momentum killing fiddling and playing prevent defense again.

    Betts went 0 for 3 in the game; maybe thinking about defense?

    1. He does this every year and every year nothing comes of it except a loss of momentum. So he puts Betts at 2nd and pulls Lux who might be starting to hit. Great confidence booster. Another dumb move by the dumbest manager in all of baseball.

      1. Good point. I have never been sold on Lux, be he had a two homer game, and was starting to look confident. Moves like this are confidence killers, and take the players involved out of their comfort zones for no reason. There is absolutely no reason to put Betts at second. Lux, Taylor, Hernandez, and Muncy can all play there within their comfort zones. If you’re a real manager you tell players, even great ones like Betts, thanks for the suggestion, but I think I’ll play everyone where they actually have proven MLB level experience.

        Roberts needs to stop jerking around with a team that should win it all, and just let them actually do it. The postseason is right around the corner. The time for experimenting is over. If Roberts wants to play Dr. Frankenstein he should at least wait until the 2021 preseason. If you can’t win it all with this team in their normal positions, maybe you just can’t win period, and should seek an alternative career.

  2. 1. That was 6 years ago….2. KiKi is a great D second base. 3. Remember when Jose talked his Texas mgr. into letting him pitch….Cost the mgr his job and Jose his season…

    Silly, silly, silly

  3. HE SCREWS AROUND LIKE THIS EVERY YR. AND KEEPS PLAYERS MESSED UP.
    KAKI IS GREAT @ 2 ,MOOKIE MISSED A LITTLE, @ 2 ND BASE, KAKI MISSED A BALL THAT HIT THE WALL.THIS WILL COST EVERY TIME, MOOKIE IS ONE OF THE BEST IN ALL BASEBALL @ R.F. WHY DOES D.R.DO THIS KIND OF S******IT BUN4 GOT IT RIGHT THE F.O. LIKES D.R.S SALARY, HE OVER PAID. NOTHING WILL CHANGE,IN THE PLAY OFFS LOOSE.

  4. NO TIME TO BE SCREWING AROUND, NO ONLY DID HE F UP ON BETTS & KAKI, BUT PITCHERS AS WELL. USED TONY OUT OF THE PEN,DOES NOT KNOW WHO TO START NOW. COME ON A.F. & F.O. OUT COME LAST 5 YR. DOES NOT TELL SOMETHING. AS FOR LUX,W/BAD ATTATUDE TRADE HIM,HE HAS MISSED A FEW TO MANY PLAYS AS WELL, OH WAIT, SEND TO OKIE.

  5. The Dodgers currently have 4 players – Taylor, Hernandez, Lux, and Muncy – who have played a lot of 2B in the last couple of years. Heck even Barnes played some at the position last year. Does anyone have a plausible disaster scenario where it would be necessary to play Betts there this year? Look if half the team tested positive during the playoffs and couldn’t play, it really wouldn’t matter what position Betts played.

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