Wednesday, July 16

Welcome back to the Dodgers Beat newsletter! With camp underway, let's take a look at how a key development for the Dodgers is playing out early in spring …

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- In the mornings at Camelback Ranch, Mookie Betts and the rest of the Dodgers' infielders can be found on a practice field taking ground ball after ground ball, making throw after throw to first base. 

While Betts spent the offseason working toward a return to shortstop, this week marked the first time the baseball world at large has gotten to catch a glimpse of his progress. 

Betts shifted to shortstop midway through last spring, a move made partially out of necessity. His most recent big league game at the position was last June 16, when he fractured his left hand on a hit-by-pitch and missed nearly two months. When he returned, he went to right field, where he's won six Gold Glove Awards.

"He certainly felt he had unfinished business," manager Dave Roberts said, "and he popped out to right field because it was the right decision at that time given our roster. But I do feel that … he wanted to really give himself the best chance to be a top performer at short."

Last season, Betts was candid about the difficulty of transitioning to shortstop. He impressed with his range and showed some good natural instincts with fielding the position, but he struggled with throwing. Eight of Betts' nine errors across 531 1/3 innings at shortstop were throwing errors.

Veteran infielder Miguel Rojas has been helping Betts work to improve at shortstop. The two communicated throughout the offseason and worked out together at times, and Rojas has passed on plenty of expertise about the position he's played the most in the big leagues. 

When it comes to translating Betts' strong throwing arm from the outfield to the infield, Rojas said the key is to find the right throwing slot, which changes depending on where in the infield he's throwing to.

Understanding those distinctions can help the rest of the pieces fall into place.

"He looks way more comfortable," Rojas said, "especially on the throwing side. … Finding your slot is very important, because you throw the ball from a different position than when you throw it in right field. He's not throwing the ball way too much over the top or on the bottom."

Betts has certainly looked confident whenever he's uncorked a throw from shortstop this spring. It's been some time since he's been able to test himself at the position in a game situation, but every low-pressure repetition builds muscle memory that should prepare him for the real thing.

"It's two grades better already," Roberts said. "Action-wise, confidence-wise. There was some uncertainty, rightfully so, last year. Where just the confidence is extremely high right now."

If Betts not only succeeds, but excels, in his move to shortstop, he would be in unprecedented territory. Only two players have won Gold Glove Awards at multiple positions: Darin Erstad and Placido Polanco.

Erstad is the only one to have won a Gold Glove as an infielder and as an outfielder.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Betts could be chasing an achievement that cements his legacy as a Major Leaguer. But he's also made it clear that he finds achieving greatness with his team to be most rewarding. 

"It's definitely something different," Betts said. "But I'm just doing what's best for the team, what I feel like is best for the team. If it's here, it's here. If it's right, center, doesn't matter. I feel like I'm a baseball player, and as long as I put a glove on, I feel like I'm going to be pretty good at it."  

The Dodgers could be part of a historic moment next month in Japan. 

Roberts announced Wednesday that Yoshinobu Yamamoto would likely take the ball to start Game 1 of the season-opening Tokyo Series on March 18. Shota Imanaga could be his counterpart for the Cubs, which would make the duo the first Japanese-born starting pitchers to face off on Opening Day. 

"If that happens, Japanese fans would be really excited," Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda, "especially in … a Major League Baseball game in Japan."

Last year, Yamamoto was also part of a history-making game when he and the Padres' Yu Darvish became the first Japanese-born pitchers to start opposite one another in a postseason game in Game 5 of the NL Division Series. Given the number of talented players from Japan with dreams of one day playing in the Majors, these types of matchups could be all the more common in the near future.

“I feel like there was less interest. Maybe teams just assumed that I wanted to come back [to L.A.] and come back only. I still explored my options and things like that. I understood that this roster was more full than a Bad Bunny concert.” -- Kiké Hernández, on his free agency and eventual return to the Dodgers

The Dodgers announced that all of their Spring Training games will air on SportsNet LA, starting with the team's Cactus League opener next Thursday against the Cubs at 12:05 p.m. PT. Select games will also be broadcast on radio stations AM 570 LA Sports and KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish language broadcast).

The Dodgers' exhibition games in Japan vs. the Yomiuri Giants (3 a.m. PT) and Hanshin Tigers (8 p.m. PT) will be carried on SportsNet LA, while the preseason edition of the Freeway Series from March 23-25 will air on SportsNet LA, AM 570 and KTNQ 1020 AM.

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