LOS ANGELES — Miguel Rojas spoke Saturday, near the third-base line at Dodger Stadium, and Mookie Betts listened intently. This was Rojas delivering a seminar on the finer points of playing shortstop in the big leagues, and Betts, standing two feet away, was like an A+ student sitting in the front row taking notes of every word. The two men had just finished taking ground balls for a half hour, and Rojas was delivering an infielder’s version of class review.
“They do that every day,” Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Rojas began his shortstop tutorials in spring training as Betts prepared his move to the position. “8:15 every morning,” said Dino Ebel, the Dodgers’ third-base coach.
And to this day, Rojas and Betts will talk arm angles and foot movement and other nuances of fielding the position. Rojas is regarded as an elite defensive shortstop and Betts, a Gold Glove-winning outfielder who has transitioned to the infield full-time for the first time since he was a minor leaguer in the Red Sox organization, is doing all he can to be as good as he can be at age 31. “He’s obsessed with it,” Roberts said. “His focus is unreal.”
Betts’ climb to another echelon is one of a half dozen early season trends that stand out — but which will still be true at season’s end?
1. Mookie Betts is the best he’s ever been
The metrics suggest that Betts has played an above-average shortstop — he has scored a plus-3 in defensive runs saved, behind only Anthony Volpe and Bobby Witt Jr at his position — but more importantly, his production at the plate right now is peerless. If you’d prefer to keep it simple and judge Betts with the stats you see on a jumbotron, he’s got you covered: He’s batting .347, and he’s among the major league leaders in runs (20, 1st), RBI (16, 6th), home runs (six, 2nd), hits (26, 2nd) and walks (16, 1st).
