Betts staying at shortstop despite Dodgers' outfield struggles
Outfield defense has been a problem for Los Angeles, and Roberts called out Teoscar Hernández's play in right after Monday night's 4-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Hernández failed to catch Ezequiel Tovar's high popup that landed for a double in the ninth inning, and Tovar scored the winning run two pitches later.
But Roberts isn't ready to move Betts from shortstop, where he has played all but one inning this season. Betts entered Tuesday night with a .984 fielding percentage and has committed just six errors in 376 chances.
'There's got to be an alternative, right?' Roberts said before Tuesday night's game against Colorado. 'And I think right now, the way Mookie's playing at short, not bouncing him around, I think we feel very good about it.'
Betts met with Roberts after Monday night's loss but the manager said it was just to check in.
'Mookie pops in my office all the time and we were just talking about his swing,' Roberts said. 'I wanted him to check in with me about where he's at, certain checkpoints as we go through the season, and that was a check-in.'
The Dodgers have options in the outfield, but Michael Conforto has struggled at the plate and Tommy Edman, Kiké Hernández and Hyeseong Kim are on the injured list.
Edman and Hernández can play infield and outfield, which would strengthen the defense.
Teoscar Hernández, despite his recent offensive struggles, is a stronger option with the bat than Conforto. The slugger had an RBI double in the first inning Tuesday night that gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
'Given everything that we were going through, we've gone through, we're still finding ways to win a lot of ballgames,' Roberts said. 'Just in totality, we can all do a better job, all of us. And so I just refuse to try to pin it on one position, one person. ... That's just not what I do."
___
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
44 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Pivetta strikes out 10 in combined 4-hitter as the Padres beat the Giants 5-1
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Nick Pivetta allowed a leadoff homer by Jung Hoo Lee and then settled down to tie his season high with 10 strikeouts in six innings and lead the San Diego Padres to a 5-1 victory against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. The Padres snapped a four-game losing streak and remained two games behind the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. Lee homered to right-center on Pivetta's second pitch. It was his second career leadoff shot and sixth homer of the season. Pivetta (13-4) walked two batters that inning but allowed only three more baserunners, on two hits and a hit batter. He combined on a four-hitter with All-Star relievers Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and Robert Suarez. Pivetta beat the Giants in consecutive starts, with his most recent outing being an 11-1 win at San Francisco on Aug. 13 during a three-game sweep that helped the Padres take a one-game lead over the Dodgers. The Padres were then swept in a weekend series at Dodger Stadium. The Padres tied it in the bottom of the first when leadoff batter Fernando Tatis Jr. reached on shortstop Christian Koss' throwing error, advanced on Luis Arraez's double and scored on Manny Machado's ground out. The Padres went ahead 3-1 in the fourth when Giants starter Kai-Wei Teng (1-3) had control issues, hitting two batters with pitches to load the bases and then allowing Jose Iglesias' single. Spencer Bivens came on and got a force out before walking Tatis to bring in another run. Key stat Pivetta reached double digits in strikeouts for the 20th time in his career. Up next Giants RHP Landen Roupp (7-6, 3.45) and Padres LHP JP Sears (7-10, 5.12 ERA) are scheduled to start Wednesday night. ___
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Betts staying at shortstop despite Dodgers' outfield struggles
DENVER — Mookie Betts has played strong defense in his first full season as a shortstop, but the recent outfield play for the Los Angeles Dodgers has manager Dave Roberts fielding questions about whether the 2018 AL MVP would be more valuable to the team in right field. Outfield defense has been a problem for Los Angeles, and Roberts called out Teoscar Hernández's play in right after Monday night's 4-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Hernández failed to catch Ezequiel Tovar's high popup that landed for a double in the ninth inning, and Tovar scored the winning run two pitches later.
CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
Ohtani hits 44th homer, Call has 4 hits and Dodgers pound Rockies 11-4
Shohei Ohtani hit his 44th home run and Alex Call matched a career high with four hits as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 11-4 on Tuesday night. Call and Ohtani each launched a solo homer in the second inning to help the defending World Series champions open a 7-0 lead against winless Austin Gomber in the third. Ohtani remained tied for the National League lead in home runs with Philadelphia slugger Kyle Schwarber, who also went deep Tuesday night. Los Angeles finished with 18 hits, and Call was a triple shy of the cycle. Will Smith had three hits to raise his NL-leading batting average to .308. All nine starters had at least one hit for the Dodgers, who beat Colorado for the 11th time in 12 meetings. Kyle Karros hit his first major league home run for the last-place Rockies, who had won four in a row. Los Angeles scored twice in the first against Gomber (0-7) before Call and Ohtani homered in the second. The Dodgers batted around in the third and scored three runs, then added three more in the seventh. Gomber, who allowed seven runs in three innings, has gone 15 starts without a victory. His last win was Sept. 5, 2024. Emmet Sheehan (4-2) pitched six innings, tying his career high, and struck out seven. He is 3-0 in three starts against the Rockies. Sheehan gave up a pair of two-run homers, one to Brenton Doyle in the fourth and Karros' drive in the sixth. Warming Bernabel led off the Colorado fourth with an infield single and broke for second on third baseman Buddy Kennedy's errant throw to first. Miguel Rojas picked up the ball, and his throw to second just beat Bernabel. The Dodgers had seven two-out RBIs on the night, including two in the first inning and three in the third. Ohtani (0-0, 3.47 ERA) makes his 10th start this season for the Dodgers on Wednesday night. RHP Tanner Gordon (3-5, 7.98) goes for the Rockies.
