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The Los Angeles Dodgers spent far more than any other team this offseason to shore up key positions on a team that has made the playoffs for 10 seasons straight.
But unaddressed issues at an ignored infield position came to the surface just nine days before the 2024 campaign kicks off as franchise star Mookie Betts was moved to shortstop following the defensive struggles of teammate Gavin Lux.
Betts shared his reaction to the news during a recent recording of his “On Base With Mookie Betts” podcast.
“When I was named the shortstop, that was super special to me,” Betts said. “I hadn’t played shortstop, and knowing that I would play shortstop everyday, since I was 18. And you know, I’m 31. That’s a long time to not play everyday shortstop, so this is a dream come true. That was probably one of the coolest moments knowing, man, I get to do it again.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers Have Moved Gavin Lux After Defensive Issues
After winning six Gold Glove Awards as a right fielder, Betts was exploring a move to second base before being shifted to shortstop for the Dodgers’ Spring Training matchup with Cincinnati Reds. He had been moved so that teammate Gavin Lux could take over at second following struggles throughout the preseason.
“For the second spring in a row, Lux’s presumed ascension to the shortstop role didn’t make it out of Spring Training,” according to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. “The 26-year-old former top prospect, who is coming off a torn ACL suffered last spring, experienced a recurrence of throwing issues that caused the club’s best-laid plans to misfire.”
In his first two chances after returning to game action, Lux committed two errors in a row, badly overthrowing or bouncing his throws to first base consistently.
“He was feeling the toll of it,” Manager Dave Roberts said, referring to Lux’s inability to make seemingly-routine plays, according to Ardaya.
Ardaya later reported that Roberts described the move as “permanent, for now.”
Betts also demonstrated some struggles at a position he hadn’t played routinely for 13 years. He missed the first ball that came his way, bouncing it off of his glove and into the outfield on a missed backhand. Shortly after, Lux missed a throw to first base on an attempted double play.
The Los Angeles Dodgers Might Turn to a Signing or Trade to Fill Shortstop
Even after spending more than $1 billion on free agent acquisitions, the Dodgers don’t have many more options in the infield. The projected shortstop depth chart also includes Miguel Rojas and Enrique Hernández, but it’s hard to say if either player would be a better option than Lux or Betts.
“Rojas was sterling defensively but is coming off back-to-back offensive seasons that graded well below average,” per Ardaya. “Kike Hernández struggled mightily as the Red Sox full-time shortstop at the beginning of last season before addressing a two-year lingering abdominal injury with a double hernia surgery this past winter.
If the Dodgers ultimately decide no current player on the roster can maintain the starting shortstop role, they may have to add to their spending or tap into a highly-rated farm system to accomplish a trade.
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