It was the one aspect of baseball through which he has ever struggled. The one facet of the sport that Mookie Betts could not fairly grasp. 

“Final 12 months, enjoying shortstop was just about a fail,” the Dodgers star advised CBS Sports activities final week.

Failure would not sit nicely with a person that’s moonwalking to the Corridor of Fame. Even together with his three World Collection titles, an MVP award, eight All-Star appearances and 6 Gold Gloves in proper area, Betts’ lackluster play at an unfamiliar place hovered over his conscience. 

So, even because the climate turned at Citi Subject final weekend, he went via his pregame routine amid the pitter-patter of falling rain. 

With first base coach and infield teacher Chris Woodward lined up throughout from him, the pair went via their each day knee drills, isolating the decrease half and forcing Betts to rely solely on his arms. They began with fundamental one-hop reps out in entrance, adopted by forehand and backhand picks. Then Betts moved out towards the outfield and repeated the sequence—solely now he was standing, his legs engaged within the drill.

“Each day, I am working,” he mentioned. 

That Betts is even enjoying the place — removed from his normal cozy spot in proper area — is a testomony to his unwavering sacrifice for the Dodgers, and simply as a lot, his freakish athletic skill.

Let’s deal with the previous level first. Shortstop, subsequent to catching, is essentially the most demanding defensive place on the sector. One which requires you to be a quarterback, having to be engaged on each play. It wears on you, too, and will affect your offensive profile. Although Betts got here up as a second baseman with the Pink Sox, the place is not almost as demanding.

“Your mind begins fatiguing you as a result of he would not miss a pitch,” Woodward mentioned. “That is the one factor we demand of him, that I demand of him, you possibly can’t take a pitch off. Like, not one pitch and that wears you down after some time. Within the outfield, I see outfielders wanting and dealing on their swing. You possibly can’t do this.”

As gamers age, the calls for of the place and its affect turn out to be much more pronounced. Take the Twins’ Carlos Correa, for instance, who’s in his age-30 season. His OPS via 46 video games is simply .665, however his protection stays elite. Then there’s the Pink Sox’s Trevor Story, who’s 32. Story can nonetheless deal with shortstop, however offensively, he is likely to be cooked, posting a .582 OPS via his first 53 video games. The mileage at shortstop — and the accidents — have caught as much as each gamers.

Betts, who is identical age as Story, is not any teenager and stands roughly 4 inches shorter than his friends, generously listed at 5-foot-10, 180 kilos. He seemingly feels the grind of the place greater than each Correa and Story. However the future Corridor of Famer likes the problem.

“It is enjoyable when it is one thing that I’ve by no means performed,” Betts mentioned. “So, anytime, someone’s doing one thing new, like myself particularly, I assume you simply embrace and luxuriate in these challenges. However, actually, it is simply to assist the workforce be capable to re-sign guys and convey new faces to assist the workforce. So it is sort of what it’s.” 

Enjoying shortstop was unfamiliar for Betts final season, when the Dodgers requested him to make the transfer to maximise their gifted lineup. Struggling was unfamiliar, too.

In case you requested any of his teammates or shut buddies, Betts is a freak athlete, who frustrates these round him as a result of he is so good at every part. Ping pong? He can beat you at that. One-on-one basketball? That, too, and he can dunk regardless of his restricted top. Bowling? He is an expert. However shortstop? That required failure, then sweat fairness — and to this point, Betts has reaped the advantages. He is tied for fifth amongst shortstops in Defensive Runs Saved (4) and ranks within the 91st percentile in vary and the 82nd percentile in fielding run worth, in response to Baseball Savant.

Once more, he is 32 years outdated. Betts made 61 begins because the Dodgers’ shortstop in 2024. The final time he performed shortstop earlier than final 12 months was in highschool. Now, he is doing it every single day for the Dodgers, a workforce that has dynasty expectations with one of many deepest rosters in baseball historical past. It is unfathomable. 

“No one is available in and simply does one thing to that magnitude efficiently proper off the bat,” Betts mentioned. “No one that I’ve seen. I performed plenty of video games final 12 months to construct up some expertise, so I knew what to anticipate. And now I received to spend slightly time this offseason truly coaching for it so it is made it slightly higher. I nonetheless would not say I am good at it however I am serviceable.” 

Supervisor Dave Roberts echoes a few of Betts’s sentiments. 

“He appears to be like like a major-league shortstop proper now,” he mentioned. Whereas final 12 months, there have been many instances I did not really feel that approach,” Roberts mentioned.

The grind of a 162-game season would be the actual take a look at for Betts. He hasn’t had his normal success on the plate but, slashing .254/.338/.405 with a .743 OPS and eight homers. His legs, at instances, have regarded heavier as he runs down the primary final analysis, maybe an indication of the demand of shortstop. 

However Betts’s monitor file supersedes his present numbers, and the nice ones at all times discover a solution to get again to their very own stratosphere the place few can scrape. In a Los Angeles market the place stars are anticipated to carry out, Betts — within the limelight and in his twelfth 12 months within the large leagues — is welcoming the problem.

“That is not a place guys come to,” mentioned Woodward. “It is a place guys depart.”