Superstar MVP candidate Mookie Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers are currently enjoying a very strong start to the 2024 MLB season, sitting with a solid record of 43-19, good for first place in the vaunted National League West division. Betts has continued to play like one of the best players in baseball so far this year, and the Dodgers have been able to integrate high profile free agent signing Shohei Ohtani seamlessly in the fold, and figure to once again be World Series contenders when the MLB postseason rolls around in early October.
One of the biggest storylines heading into this season was the fact that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had elected to move Betts from his natural second baseman position and into the shortstop role due to the continued throwing struggles of Gavin Lux, who was the player who used to occupy the position.
However, with the MLB trade deadline quickly approaching, it seems that the Dodgers could be interested in looking for a more stable presence at that position despite Bett's continued brilliance on the offensive side of the ball.
“The most intriguing question at the trade deadline will be whether the Los Angeles Dodgers decide to stick with Mookie Betts as their everyday shortstop, or move him to second base,” reported MLB insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
“Betts is having another fabulous season and could be the leading MVP contender, but it’s been a rough adjustment learning shortstop on the fly, making nine errors with a .957 fielding percentage − third worst among all shortstops.”
Indeed, Betts has looked a bit out of place at times in the shortstop position, which is natural for any player making a transition to a new area of the field, especially this far into their career and with so much success in other parts of the game.
Is this the year for the Dodgers?
The Dodgers have been trying for four years now to once again reach the championship heights they attained during the 2020 COVID affected season, when they lifted the World Series Championship trophy after a hard fought series vs the Tampa Bay Rays.
Since then, the Dodgers have suffered three straight postseason exits before even making it to the game's biggest stage. First, in 2021, the Dodgers lost to the eventual champion Atlanta Braves in a difficult six-game series. Then the next year, Los Angeles blew a lead to the San Diego Padres in the first round of the postseason, a shocking result for a team that had been the best squad in baseball by a country mile throughout the campaign.
In 2022, the Dodgers were shockingly swept out of the postseason by the upstart Arizona Diamondbacks, who went on to make the World Series before losing to the Texas Rangers when they got there.
Needless to say, Dodgers Nation is growing a bit restless as it comes to competing for a championship and finally reaching that glory once again after knocking on the door so many times.
The Dodgers next face the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
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