The Mookie Betts Shortstop Experiment is Over. What Went Wrong?

Enjoy The Mookie Betts Shortstop Experiment is Over. What Went Wrong? Subscribe to Made The Cut 2 for more mlb content!
#baseball #mlbvideos #baseballvideos #mlb
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

[@Poopoocachoo]

It’s still impressive that he managed to be even a remotely passable SS considering he was learning the position after his age-30

[@sirdabomb123]

He was a shortstop/2nd baseman before moving to outfield. He played infield in the minors before making it to the majors and switching to outfield.

[@Poopoocachoo]

@@sirdabomb123 he played like 10-15 games at Short in the minors before he was 20 so pretty much learning the position at the big league level

[@billkerns9258]

@@sirdabomb123 More of a second baseman than a shortstop, but to his credit he has played multiple positions (second, short, even third base). He was excellent at second and RF when younger. And there is a difference. Those players who are excellent defensively at both SS and 2B belie the difficulty and the differences. I personally think that in his defensive prime he could have been a GG quality second baseman just as a GG quality right fielder (and yes, I know numbers Geeks poo poo the gold glove, I'm using it here as an expression). It's also worth noting that at his current age, it's typical for many shortstops to move to second base or outfield.

[@samurraiwarrior11]

Mookie moved to SS because Gavin Lux was struggling early. During spring training he was set to be the starting second baseman. Lux turned into a pretty good second baseman so Mookie stayed at SS until the injury. His move back to RF was needed with the lack of production and depth from the outfield, except for Teo Hernandez, on top of his injury

[@Wolf-wc1js]

Bingo this is the correct answer. Furthermore the emergence of Miguel Rojas’s bat this season on top of his glove first defense and the acquisition of Tommy Edman gave more versatility to shortstop so there became less of a need for Mookie to be the everyday shortstop again upon return

[@madethecut2]

Yeah, but it was public info that it was the hope of the org he could be the answer for at least this season. Miggy's emergence has really helped take that pressure off though, allowing him to play elsewhere now, as well as the departure of Vargas and the fall off of Outman.

[@DodgersWsChamps]

@@madethecut2exactly, the dodgers didn’t count on Rojas putting up offense numbers, so why sit out Rojas when we can have him and mookie in the line up Rojas at ss mookie at rf what’s best for the team like mookie said

[@derekconstantino7759]

I dont think its a "what went wrong" but more so a "what went right" with miguel rojas....rojas has been great for LA

[@madethecut2]

I get you, but you’re saying if mookie had been statistically great there he wouldn’t have returned post injury? Allowed Rojas to keep bouncing around the infield? Maybe, but I don’t think so

[@adamm751]

@@madethecut2 I think the answer is yes, because of Gavin Lux's breakout in that timeframe. Miguel Rojas was able to bounce around the infield pre-Mookie injury because Gavin Lux was horrible to start the year, but once Lux started catching on fire it became a lot harder to keep Rojas's bat in the lineup without moving Mookie to RF.

[@edy1434]

Thank goodness for Miguel Rojas, dude is an absolute beast at SS I’m not a freak about stats but guys that are say he’s really good at SS, and since he got decent with his bat no reason to put anybody else on SS

[@ktcrzzz2381]

Personally I think nothing went wrong. Before the season, Mookie was actually assigned 2B as Gavin Lux was set to be the everyday SS. However, Gavin struggled badly, and that eventually led to the swap between these two - which was a good one, as both Gavin and Mookie settled in their new position quickly. Then, when Mookie was injured, Miguel Rojas came up big at SS. He gave quality ABs at the bottom of the order. That, and with Gavin Lux having been hitting well, the Dodgers suddenly had 2 quality batters as their middle infield duo. The poor production of the outfielders was also a reason - apart from Teo, no one could really hit (Andy Pages was hot for quite some time, but again, he's a rookie, he's bound to cool down at some point, and he did). All of them led to the decision to move Mookie back to RF. It's hard to have both the solid bats of Miggy and Gavin in the lineup if the Dodgers want to keep Mookie at SS.

[@Yuhssss]

Notice some people here commenting Betts is “overrated” and that “Boston made the right move”. How dumb are some of y’all? Betts is easily a future HOF player who just happened to shipped away for pennies by the Red Sox. If Betts stayed in Boston, then the 2021 WS would’ve went to Boston. Also the “Dodgers management should be fired for this” comment forgets to mention the context behind this. Going into the year, Lux had troubles fielding at SS during Spring Training, Rojas was seen as a platoon, and the outfield was getting crowded. Betts was named the starting 2nd Baseman (which is still a good move), but was named the starting Shortstop a couple days later due to Lux’s lack of fielding at shortstop. Meaning he had to learn the position without having enough time to develop before his injury. After the injury, it was decided that he would play RF again for the team’s best interests. Hand injury set him back, and the postseason was coming up when he was reactivated back to the roster. However, this led to Heyward’s release from the team (roster crunch) and it’s kind of a bummer. I liked Heyward, and I know his bat is not good. However, he plays amazing defense, has a power bat, and dude was such a vibe. Also sucks he plays for Houston now 😢

[@JosephDalton-xc1iw]

To be fair we did essentially get Connor Wong and though he’s traded, Alex Verdugo, for one year of Betts. After that he was hitting free agency anyway.

[@dom_o]

No way you’re saying Mookie hasn’t been a GG OF since 2018 😭

[@Keegan135]

There have been a couple years he’s been not good out there

[@masonmalaguti3463]

@@Keegan135 u mean 2021 one year.

[@jethrojacinto2798]

The Dodgers were so desperate to put Betts at SS because Lux was a bust and they didnt sign Corey Seager. He's definitely more suited at LF/2B, especially as he gets older.

[@JonathanAufderheide-ln8pr]

@@jethrojacinto2798 *shakes head in confusion* I’ve accepted Corey’s decision to leave, but honestly, I still wish we’d resigned him.

[@ryanc9876]

Miggy Ro also being not an only-glove player this season also helped push Mookie back to RF. He's not as comparable to Mookie offensively of course, but his defense is quality and now he's giving quality at-bats to compliment the bottom of the lineup well. That coupled with Lux's resurgent second-half offensively, the middle infield had two solid at-bats and the defense is fairly strong while the outfield was weak when Mookie returned. It just happened to work out perfectly with the addition of Edman too, covering center but also giving a solid glove for the middle-infield as well.

[@madethecut2]

A welcome surprise for the dodgers I’m sure! Made this whole situation way easier

[@Komics21]

Miggy is having a crazy season, really curious if the dodgers bring him back.

[@cesarcabrera97]

@@Komics21 His contract includes a club option for $5M for 2025, so that may end up being a bargain for the Dodgers

[@Wesley-zp7sy]

Nothing went wrong tho? They were only gonna keep him out there until they figured out the rojas/lux situation

[@KennyKleinComedy]

combo of Mookie’s injury and late trades. Not because anything “failed”

[@perrycorkos]

the same reason Mookie was moved to 2B last year is why he went back to RF this year - getting Heyward's bat in the lineup every day in '23 moved him in, and MiggyRo in '24 moved him back out. Credit to Mookie for being even passable at 2B / SS to even let it be an option

[@ZionismFailure]

Mookie can't throw to the firstbase while moving😂

[@rickbase833]

Just from the plays shown in this video it appears Mookie is hesitant when making a pressure free throw to 1st. He's getting under the ball and a wristing the ball to 1st.

[@Ariana321]

Now they have another Gold Glove defender that can play shortstop at a high level, along with basically any other position: Tommy Edman.

[@Temptazer]

why didnt u name this channel Missed The Cut

[@enshk79]

Haha that would be a perfect name for it

[@tom6875]

I hate the Dodgers but they got some cool players Freddie/Ohtani/Betts.

[@dylanmckinley9685]

Nothing went wrong. Miguel Rojas went from one of the worst offensive SS last year, to a solid consistent contact hitter this year, coupled with Gavin Lux being a top 3 hitter in all of MLB since all star break, and capped off with the Tommy Edman trade. There was no plan to put him at SS this year, it was out of necessity.

[@itsyaboi5488]

Idk why they tried to force him to play ss and yes I know w Luxs bad play forced him there but he was just fine and good asf at 2nd base where they had him after he returned from his hip injury awhile back. He was good and held down 2nd just fine while allowing the dodgers flexibility to get another OFer but now they’re gonna risk him getting hurt again w his aging hip

[@pabblo101]

I remember people gassing him in being a gold glove SS this year. Mookie belongs in the outfield.

[@deannafarber274]

Nothing happened. The Two backups are finally ready! Pretty simple... 😅

[@JosephDalton-xc1iw]

As a Red Sox fan, I wish we’d been able to get Mookie to an extension… In my opinion, we could have won a World Series in 2021 if we had him. And probably would still be in Wild Card contention this season!

[@Userrrtube]

He can put MVP numbers offensively as SS in terms of defense he's below average

[@JonathanAufderheide-ln8pr]

He was going to be an All-Star before the hand injury. That’s that.

[@NotExplicable]

It's all muscle memory he'd need to do it for 2 years considering his age by then he'd be 33 with all that wear and tear.

[@rioverde1597]

He’s coming back. Believe it or not. The reason? Gavin lux is Dave Roberts lover.

[@uesikon]

hell be the ss next season. calling it now

[@ekalB210]

"But mookie should've won mvp last year 😵‍💫"

[@strangebirdwatcher]

Shortstop Mookie round 2

[@checkdown3774]

Probably not enough black fans. He didn't feel represented. 😂

[@NarkoHamponTV]

Dodgers Management must be fired for doing this to this guy

[@BASEBALLfreakFORlife]

They didn’t have a choice at the time… lux failed right away in spring training and they didn’t want to start Rojas at the time

[@w1ntertide]

He was needed more in the outfield

[@enshk79]

It would be completely, totally unfair to hold it against Betts in any way whatsoever. He is one of the greatest players of all time, and this experiment doesn’t diminish any of that. In fact, it should add to his greatness. Love Mookie for being a team guy and embracing the challenge.

[@madethecut2]

Agreed! His willingness to try it shows how team oriented he is

[@enshk79]

@@madethecut2 👏!! Love the channel. Keep up the great work!!

[@FlanMasterT.V]

Nothing went wrong, they just had other guys better fit for the position, don't try to downplay Mookie. U know better than that

[@recommended1782]

bro you yapping too much he was a avg ss in this league but his hitting took a little bit of hit and dodgers got better ss now tommy edman and rohas are lot better at ss so he moved on

[@loganclippinger7126]

Freddie seems like he tries to make 1b look a lot more difficult than anyone else 😂

[@fewny2691]

he put up 4 DRS in 59 games according to fangraphs, not terrible at all!

[@madethecut2]

Drs is a meh way to evaluate a position like shortstop. And if that were true, why did the dodgers move him off there?

[@derekconstantino7759]

​@@madethecut2 because miguel rojas is batting .290 and is a great SS

[@masonmalaguti3463]

Elly de la cruz sucks at shortstop​@@madethecut2

[@brendobaggins]

Can someone explain to me where he was good and where he was bad at SS? He was good at moving to his right/towards third? Or the opposite?

[@madethecut2]

Going to his right/up the middle he was bad, basically everything else (going to his left/in the hole, coming in, backing up) he was decent at

[@brendobaggins]

@@madethecut2 going to his left as in towards third base from the SS position?

[@robertbelliveau6608]

@@madethecut2 you said it wrong every time in the video too, up the middle is to his left lol

[@Danp34332]

Boston was correct in letting him go

[@JosephDalton-xc1iw]

Absolutely not. Look what he’s done for LA! As a Boston fan, he would’ve likely propelled them to the World Series in 21, as well as probably lifting them to a Wild Card spot this year.

[@aviation11000]

@@JosephDalton-xc1iw i feel like his numbers would have been as good or better than ohtani if he hadn't gotten injured. he's an incredibly good hitter

[@robotbro7187]

what a terrible take. Betts has been a beast for LA

[@JosephDalton-xc1iw]

@aviation11000 not sure about the stolen base numbers, to be honest. He’s slowing down just cause of age. But yeah the power could absolutely rival Sho’s.

[@aviation11000]

@JosephDalton-xc1iw right not stolen bases. I was referring to hitting. Ohtani has more power, but Betts is the better hitter, in my opinion.