Dodgers Dugout: Moving Mookie Betts to short wasn’t the best idea

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell and we’re just one week away from the Dodgers’ traditional opening day: March 20 at 3 a.m. PDT in South Korea against the San Diego Padres.

Gavin Lux has worked hard at rehabbing the knee surgery that cost him all of last season. He was all set to start at shortstop on opening day. But then the exhibition games began and a problem cropped up: He forgot how to field. He made errors on the first two balls hit to him. He was bouncing throws to first, getting a slow jump on balls, just generally not looking remotely like a major league shortstop.

So now he isn’t.

The Dodgers will not open the season with Lux at short. They will open it with Mookie Betts at short and Lux at second.

Before we go any further, please go read what Bill Plaschke had to say about the situation, then come back here. I’ll wait ...

I agree with Bill.

You don’t move your best players to accommodate your lesser players, you move your lesser players to accommodate your stars. Now they’ve moved Betts from right field, where he was a Gold Glove winner, to second base, where he was good, then to shortstop, where he will be ... we don’t know. Probably good, because he is an amazing athlete. But you don’t just roll out of bed one day and become a major league shortstop. It takes a while to get the footwork, the throwing angle, the pivot to turn the double play and countless other things down pat.

Plus, what effect will this have on his fielding? On his general stamina? Betts is listed at 5-foot-9, 180 pounds. He wears down at the end of the season. He hit .244 with one homer in the last month of the season last year and went 0 for the postseason.

And now his job got that much more difficult.

If it were me (and let’s be clear, if I were managing the Dodgers they wouldn’t win 100 games every season), I would have left Betts at second and put Miguel Rojas at short. With Rojas, you get Gold Glove-caliber defense. He can’t hit well, hitting .236 with an OPS+ of 66 last season, but on a team with this much offense, you can sacrifice a little at one position for defense. And what better place to focus on defense than at shortstop?

The Dodgers won 100 games last season with Rojas as their starting shortstop. And he hit .500 in the postseason, so you can’t blame him for the collapse there.

The other thing about Lux: It’s not as if you are adding another Betts or Freddie Freeman or Shohei Ohtani at the plate when you get him in the lineup. In 2022, he hit .276/.346/.399, for an OPS+ of 109, meaning he was 9% better than the average hitter. Nothing about him so far screams, “We have to get his bat in the lineup!”

There are other options of course. They could put Chris Taylor or Kiké Hernández at short. But Taylor hasn’t looked that great the last two seasons and Hernández’s versatility is what makes him so valuable. Rojas is the best option.

There are rumors the Dodgers are interested in acquiring Brewers shortstop Willy Adames. He hit .217/.310/.407 with 24 homers last season, for an OPS+ of 95. He is solid defensively. He hit 31 homers with an OPS+ of 110 in 2022. The Dodgers would probably have to send Lux to Milwaukee to get Adames, who would be a free agent after the season.

So, leave Betts at second, put Rojas at short.

Now watch Lux hit .320 this season, play flawless defense and Betts win the MVP award.

What do you think? Who should be the starting shortstop? Vote here in our informal survey and let us know.

Sent to minor league camp

The Dodgers sent the following players to minor league camp Sunday: catcher Dalton Rushing, infielders Andre Lipcius, Trey Sweeney and Austin Gauthier, outfielders Jose Ramos, Ryan Ward and Drew Avans, and pitchers Matt Gage, Elieser Hernández and Kevin Gowdy.

The Dodgers have 38 players left in major league camp (17 position players, 21 pitchers). This does not include players on or going on the injured list, such as Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May.

Emmet Sheehan to the IL

Emmet Sheehan went from the most likely No. 5 starter to starting the season on the IL. Sheehan has a sore shoulder. That means, barring an unexpected trade or a signing of some sort, that the No. 5 starter will be chosen from Gavin Stone, Michael Grove, Ryan Yarbrough and Kyle Hurt.

“We have some options,” Dave Roberts said. “I don’t think we’re beholden to anything right now. Certainly, having the value of three or four innings is important. But we don’t need to make that decision yet.”

The Dodgers won’t need a No. 5 starter until the first week of April.

Brusdar Graterol update

Reliever Brusdar Graterol has hip and shoulder tightness and will not be going to South Korea with the team. The hope is he will avoid the IL and be on the roster when real games resume later in March.

The first two up

Tyler Glasnow will start the season opener for the Dodgers on March 20, facing Yu Darvish of the Padres. The March 21 game, which also starts at 3 a.m. PDT, will feature Yoshinobu Yamamoto against Joe Musgrove. When they return from South Korea, the Dodgers will play their traditional “Freeway Series” of exhibition games March 24-26.

The Dodgers’ “real” opening day will be Thursday, March 28 at home against the St. Louis Cardinals, with first pitch scheduled for 1:10 p.m.

Bobblehead nights

By popular demand, here is a list of bobblehead nights for the Dodgers this season. I’ve been to a few bobblehead nights and have watched people walk up with 30 tickets, get their 30 bobbleheads, then immediately leave. They then sell the bobbleheads online to fans who were unable to go to the game because people are buying tickets to get them to sell. Don’t be one of those people.

March 30: Freddie Freeman
April 13: Brusdar Graterol
April 20: Walker Buehler
May 16: Shohei Ohtani
May 18: Will Smith
May 21: Mookie Betts
June 1: Tyler Glasnow
June 13: Yoshinobu Yamamoto
July 3: Bobby Miller
July 6: Jason Heyward City Connect
July 24: Kiké Hernández
Aug. 7: Sandy Koufax
Aug. 9: Dusty Baker
Aug. 11: Matt Kemp
Aug. 20: TBA
Aug. 28: Shohei Ohtani
Sept. 11: TBA
Sept. 25: Clayton Kershaw

I’m hoping the Sept. 11 TBA will be “L.A. Times Dodger Dugout newsletter” bobblehead night. But it’s probably not.

In case you missed it

Tyler Glasnow named Dodgers’ opening day starter; Yoshinobu Yamamoto starting Game 2 in Korea

Trevor Bauer returns to Camelback Ranch; Dodgers bullpen takes a hit for Korea trip

Kiké Hernández finally feels strong after Dodgers doctor solves mystery health issue

Plaschke: Error, Dodgers! Moving Mookie Betts to shortstop is a misguided, maddening move

Dodgers move Mookie Betts to shortstop, Gavin Lux to second amid defensive struggles

Why is Daniel Hudson determined to make another comeback? ‘Stubbornness, I don’t know.’

And finally

Every Dodgers’ walk-off victory in 2019. Watch and listen here.