GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Dodgers’ best outfielder didn’t even bring an outfielder’s glove or cleats to spring training with him this year. Mookie Betts is all-in on being a second baseman now.
“So if we’re going out there, it’s with an infield glove and infield cleats,” Betts said after playing second base in the Cactus League opener on Thursday.
“Yeah, I’m all in. You have to dive all the way in to be the best you can be.”
Without Betts in the mix – unless something forces them to change direction – the Dodgers might resort to a familiar, fungible approach to making their outfield the best it can be. Manager Dave Roberts said of the group, there are “a lot of good moving pieces” from which to choose.
The most likely alignments will have Jason Heyward in right field, James Outman in center field and free-agent signee Teoscar Hernandez in left field against right-handed pitching. Against lefties, Hernandez will slide over to right with Chris Taylor in left and Manuel Margot occasionally spelling Outman in center.
“I think that’s fair,” Roberts said, at the same time refusing to be wedded to any alignment. “There’s gonna be days James is gonna play against lefties. And there’s gonna be some days where Max (Muncy) is gonna have some days off, which is gonna be against a left-handed pitcher (allowing Taylor to play third).
“But we expect Teoscar to take down a lot of the at-bats. We expect James to. We expect J-Hey to play against right-handed pitching. So you’re looking at Manny, he’s best equipped to handle left-handed pitching. And CT is a guy who can play the infield, the outfield, handles both and has shown that throughout his career. … I can’t say right now what it’s gonna be.”
Only Heyward in that group is clearly a platoon player. He never started against a left-hander last season and had just 26 at-bats all season against left-handed pitching.
But Outman struggled against left-handers during his…
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