LOS ANGELES — One of the finalists for a National League Gold Glove is a six-time winner – at an entirely different position.
In his first full season as a shortstop after winning the award six times as a right fielder, Mookie Betts is a finalist – along with Nick Allen of the Atlanta Braves and Masyn Winn of the St. Louis Cardinals – for the NL Gold Glove award at shortstop.
“I think the only person on this planet that believed that Mookie Betts would be in this conversation was Mookie Betts,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s just something that has never been done. I can’t even – it’s incredible. Obviously I’m at a loss for words that he’s in this position, where last year the confidence wasn’t there playing shortstop and kicking him out to right field to help our ballclub (when he returned from a broken hand in August), to wondering if it was the right decision to put him at short, to now being a Gold Glove finalist, being so trustworthy – and I feel he’s very, very warranted in winning a Gold Glove. So to kind of add to his hardware. It’s pretty amazing. Hats off to Mookie.”
Betts is less impressed, denying that it would provide validation that he had made such a drastic position switch successfully.
“I genuinely don’t care,” he said. “That’s validation for y’all, not for me.
“I knew I could do it. I believed in myself. I always have belief in myself. But I genuinely don’t care (about the award).”
At the start of the postseason, Betts said he was “just proud of myself for making it all the way through the year and actually achieving a goal that I kind of set out to do, and that’s being a major league shortstop, and say I did it and I’m good at it.”
Winning a Gold Glove at his new position was not the goal, Betts said before Game 3 of the NL Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday.
“No. It was a goal to be the best I could be,” he said. “If it came with a Gold Glove, cool. If it didn’t come with a Gold Glove, cool. I can go to bed at night knowing that I did everything I could. That’s all I care about.”
Gold Glove winners are determined by a combination of voting among managers and coaches in each league and the SABR Defensive Index, which incorporates a number of analytics.
Veteran infielder Miguel Rojas is one of three finalists for the Gold Glove in the utility role – along with Jared Triolo of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Javier Sanoja of the Miami Marlins.
GREAT OUTDOORS
Shohei Ohtani’s decision to take a rare batting practice session on the field on Wednesday made headlines in Tokyo. Ohtani usually does all of his hitting work in the batting cages, but he let Roberts and the hitting coaches know after the team traveled home early Wednesday that he wanted to hit on the field during the workout after throwing his bullpen session.
“He looked great. I like that,” Roberts said. “Shohei doesn’t take BP on the field virtually ever, which I understand in the sense that a lot of times, in the cage, your focus is more narrowed because of the cage and you’re more line-drive driven. But to kind of change things up, to get on the field, to see the flight of the baseball is also important. I appreciate him kind of changing up his routine.”
Seeing a ball bounce off the pavilion roof “isn’t a bad thing” in the midst of a 2-for-25 slump, Roberts said.
Ohtani isn’t alone in his indoor approach. Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman only occasionally hits on the field, preferring to work in the cage. Brewers DH Christian Yelich is the same way.
“I didn’t see that he hit on the field. I haven’t been on the social medias in a few weeks,” Yelich said. “I feel like you can work on more stuff like in the cage. It’s more like a controlled environment. You can do more drill stuff. You can slow it down a little bit and really get good work in. That’s why I do it. When you hit on the field BP it’s just overhand kind of throwing it. If you want to see the sight lines at a new stadium or something, or just get loose, I think it’s great.
“But you have a lot more tools at your disposal in the cage. … That’s why I do it. There’s less distractions. And it’s kind of just been what I felt comfortable with over the last few years.”
UNDERDOG DEFENSE
Brewers manager Pat Murphy has played up his team’s underdog status in the NLCS matchup with the Dodgers – despite the Brewers having the best record in baseball this season and a 6-0 head-to-head advantage over the Dodgers during the regular season. He defended that stance before Game 3.
“I don’t think we’re creating an underdog mentality,” he said. “There’s not one of you out there that predicted us to win over 81 games this year, not one person. So when that happens, who are we? You know what I mean? Like, who are we?
“We don’t have the big-name payroll. We don’t have the big-name stars, although some are becoming recognizable. … It’s not like we don’t have star power, but we don’t have $700 million guys and we don’t have guys with $300 million contracts.
“But with all that said, we’re the underdog because we are. Now, underdog meaning we’re not capable? I didn’t say not capable. I’m just saying we’re the team that nobody predicted to win over 81 games anywhere – last year or this year.”
UP NEXT
Game 4: Brewers (TBA) at Dodgers (RHP Shohei Ohtani, 1-0, 4.50 ERA), Friday, 5:38 p.m., TBS, Tru TV, HBO Max, 570 AM