After turning in a sleepy effort in Game 4 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, Dave Roberts promised that changes could be coming for the Los Angeles Dodgers for their final game of the Fall Classic at Blue Heaven.
Fast forward to the lead-up to Game 5, and the skipper made good on his assertion, replacing struggling center fielder Andy Pages with Alex Call in the nine hole – moving Kike Hernandez to center field – while placing Will Smith behind Shohei Ohtani in the batting order, with Mookie Betts moving back to three and Freddie Freeman hitting cleanup.
Explaining to reporters why he decided to move Betts down the lineup for the first time since 2021, Roberts told reporters his former MVP shortstop is working hard; he just needs to work on some mechanical things to get his game back on track.
“There's a little bit of mechanics, good pitches. He's working hard,” Roberts explained via Dodgers Nation. “Right now, all that matters is going up there and taking 4 or 5 good ABs.”
In four games of action for the Dodgers so far this World Series run, Betts' game has been borderline non-existent at the plate, recording just three hits and one run over 19 trips to the plate, recording a slash line of .158/.273/.158 and an OPS of .431. Betts' numbers are down across the board, as is his power, and has often placed Freddie Freeman in situations where no one is on base when he walks up to bat with two outs.
Will moving Betts down the order magically fix the Dodgers? No, but Smith did challenge for the NL batting title during the regular season and has a batting average of .077 higher in the World Series so far. If Smith can get more production out of the top of the order and light a fire under Betts to produce up to his usual standards, the Dodgers will be well-positioned to return to Toronto with the 3-2 lead in the series.
