Dodgers pull plug on Mookie Betts experiment

Feb 26, 2020; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts (50) looks on prior to a spring training game against the Los Angeles Angels at Camelback Ranch. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts is expected to return to the field next week. But he won’t be in the infield like he has been all season.

Betts has been out of the Dodgers’ lineup for nearly two months after sustaining a fracture in his left hand. The former AL MVP was sidelined after taking a 98-mph fastball directly to his hand during a June 16 contest against the Kansas City Royals.

The eight-time All-Star is slated to return on Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers. On Friday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters that Betts would be deployed in the outfield for the first time this season.

It’s a move that Betts, who has played in the outfield throughout most of his career, considered a “mutual thing”

“I think it was just kind of a mutual thing,” Betts said of the positional change , via The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya. “But I would say I mostly went to [the coaching staff]. I said, ‘Listen, I believe I can do it, but I want to win, man.’ I want to win. I don’t know if me right there (at shortstop) is the best solution.”

Through 72 games this year, Betts has slotted in exclusively in the two middle infield spots. But before making the transition to the infield beginning in the 2023 season, Betts had won six Gold Gloves as a reliable outfielder.

After the Dodgers made several moves to acquire capable infielders before the MLB trade deadline, Betts may be better suited providing quality defense in right field.

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