When the Dodgers acquired Mookie Betts in February and signed him the day before the opening of a 12-year contract extension, the assumption was that the club would plug Betts into the leadoff and enjoy the dividend.
There was no reason to think otherwise. Betts became one of the best players in the world to lead for the Boston Red Sox. He made four All-Star teams, won an MVP Award, and led the team to a championship as an everyday leadoff hitter. In the spring training, Betts said he wanted to continue in that role because it is where he felt most comfortable and where he thought his skill set shone the most. The Dodgers, next pack, had Betts first in spring training and again at training camp.
Then the Dodgers dropped a surprise on opening day, beating Betts second against the San Francisco Giants.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the Betts team would play second-right-back pitchers for the ‘next season’ to split the team with left-handers. About three weeks later it still happens when the Dodgers have trouble producing runes when they do not have sly homers.
Betts played second for the 10th time Tuesday in the Dodgers’ 6-2 loss to the San Diego Padres. He went one for three with a walk and reached the base a third time on an error. He batting .281 with a .905 to-base-plus-slipping percentage on the season.
The importance of batting order is often debated and mostly overestimated. But why change what Betts, the best player on the team, is most comfortable doing? For Tuesday’s game, Roberts, who built the lineup in conjunction with the front office, defended the decision to keep Betts in the two-hole, pointing out that the team’s offensive battle goes deeper than sequence.
“If you talk about one player’s construction and lineup, where he hits a leadoff once, and the numbers until last year are very similar to production,” Roberts said Tuesday. ‘And now you take eight other players in a lineup that makes that particular game as well. So, if you give potential match-ups and make it a little harder for the opponents, I think that has some value too. “
Betts has been one of the few attacking bright spots for the Dodgers. Meanwhile, Cody Bellinger, Joc Pederson and Max Muncy, three left-handed thugs, all hit below .200.
Muncy was the team’s original leadoff hitter against right-handed hitters, but dropped enough for the Dodgers to drop him in order. He went one for four on Tuesday with two strikes and is playing .186.
Pederson, the lead of the Dodgers of recent years against rights, replaced Muncy on top of the order and is handballed.196. He went one for two with a colorful single against a shift and a walk before being replaced by a pinch hitter.
Bellinger, last season’s MVP, went 0 for 4 and grounded Tuesday in two double plays. His batting average dropped to .167. His OPS is down at .485.
The Dodgers are just 18 games into the season, but 18 games in a 60-game season represent more than a quarter of the way through. Is the shortened runway putting more pressure on players than they normally feel 18 games a season?
“That’s an honest point,” Roberts said. “Our encouragement to the boys is just to take at-bats to help us win baseball games. I knew the season was not that long, yes, I understand that there is not so much time to pick up. But boys will struggle for a period of two weeks. That happens every year. But you need to have the ability to focus and drown out that sound that batting averages out of your head. ”
Betts is not one of those players who wrestles. He produces. He just does not produce from his usual place – at least for now.
“You talk about the leadoff hitter, the role, the spark, I understand that absolutely,” Roberts said. “But I think you look our lineup up and down and there really is no one who turns the bat significantly. That just to have Mookie in the leadoff role, I do not think everyone is called in the order. So I think we’ll still find ways to send runes over. That, at the moment, I love where we are. ‘
