Dodgers’ Mookie Betts is happy playing the infield, with impressive results

When you tell Mookie Betts the numbers indicate he hits better when he plays the infield, he will point out that playing the outfield has never really held him back.

“I won MVP in right field. That’s my argument to that,” he said recently. “It doesn’t really matter where I play. The box is the box and defense is defense. They’re two separate things and I keep them that way.”

Betts did indeed win the 2018 American League MVP award playing right field almost exclusively for the Boston Red Sox. He is contending for another this year while splitting his time between right field (61 games and an .874 OPS), second base (26 games, 1.079 OPS) and shortstop (14 games, 1.039 OPS).

“I don’t see how he couldn’t be in the MVP voting in the sense that the value, the ability to be able to move all over the diamond and be able to play it at an elite clip has opened a lot of options for me and our roster,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who has compared the multi-faceted effect of Betts’ versatility to the “incomparable” things Shohei Ohtani does.

While it might seem counterintuitive to move one of the game’s best right fielders (Betts has won six Gold Gloves there) to other positions, Roberts uses one of the buzzwords of new-age front offices to explain it.

“As an organization, it gives us a lot of optionality,” he said.

Playing Betts in the infield allows the Dodgers to stack the outfield with three left-handed hitters (James Outman, Jason Heyward and David Peralta) against right-handed pitching. It’s a configuration that has only become more frequent with Miguel Vargas’ demotion to Triple-A. Through Wednesday’s game in Baltimore, Betts has played second base all six games since Vargas was sent down to Triple-A and has been in the infield for 10 of the Dodgers’ past 11 games.

With the Aug. 1 trade deadline approaching, it also gives the Dodgers the option of adding to their lineup by acquiring an infielder (and moving Betts back to the outfield) or an outfielder (and continuing to give Betts frequent starts in the infield). Chris Taylor returned from injury last week. But the Dodgers could still add a right-handed hitter – whatever position he plays.

For Betts, the uncertainty of where he might be playing from game to game has a familiar feel.

“That’s the thing. Like, utility guy – that’s what I did,” Betts said. “Summer ball, Little League, high school – that’s what I did. I was a utility player that could hit. Nothing’s really changed.

“This is like summer ball. I remember summer ball I would play short one game, second one game, center one game. So I’m not nervous. This is just normal.”

It wasn’t Betts’ normal as a professional. He was a second baseman with infrequent time at shortstop until he reached Triple-A in 2014. That was when the Red Sox started playing Betts in the outfield on a regular basis. They already had a former MVP and Gold Glove winner at second base in Dustin Pedroia.

Betts made the move physically – but never really did mentally.

“I could have been an infielder my whole career. But it didn’t work out that way,” Betts said.

“I’ve never considered myself a right fielder. I just play right field. I’ve always considered myself a middle infielder.”

Betts makes it clear he also considers himself “a pretty good infielder” and anyone surprised by his ability to handle second base or shortstop defensively hasn’t been listening. He hasn’t made an error in more than 200 innings at second base this season.

“Oh, I’ve been telling everybody I can do it,” he said. “I know what I can do. If somebody doubted it, okay.

“I get why (the Dodgers didn’t play him there before). We had Corey (Seager). We had Trea (Turner). We had (Gavin) Lux. We had other infielders. That’s cool. I wasn’t tripping. Plus they pay me to be an outfielder.”

They pay him very well to hit a baseball as well as catch it and Betts is doing that better and more consistently this year than he has since joining the Dodgers. Playing the infield as frequently as he has is certainly a factor, keeping Betts mentally engaged. But Betts acknowledged there are also physical benefits that have him feeling “great,” better than he usually does this deep into a season.

The math on that is simple to him.

“Where Freddie starts,” Betts said, pointing to Freeman standing by the dugout, “all the way out there (right field) and back 18 times. Then instead of me taking three steps to the right (in the infield), backhand, boom, throw to first you’ve got to take 30 at a full sprint (in the outfield). That in itself is an extra load.”

The 30-year-old Betts will be approaching his 40th birthday when his 12-year contract with the Dodgers ends in 2032. At some point, avoiding that “extra load” with a full-time move to the infield could make sense.

“I hope so. I would hope so, for sure,” Betts said of finishing his career as an infielder. “I don’t know. It just kind of depends on who they bring in and all those types of things.”

Continuing to produce 30-homer seasons and a .900 OPS as a second baseman could clear a path to the Hall of Fame for Betts.

“Yeah, it’d be nice,” he said. “We’ll see. Hopefully I can make that move.”