Mookie Betts prides himself on being an elite defensive infielder.
He started his career as a second baseman with the Boston Red Sox before moving to the outfield where he’s racked up six Gold Glove awards. A natural competitor, he welcomed the move to the middle infield at this stage in his career.
Playing as the Dodgers starting shortstop, there have been some bumps along the way. Betts is learning an entirely new position with the various angles that differ from his usual right field positioning. This also includes throwing the baseball far differently than he would as an outfielder.
Helping him ease the transition has been Tommy Edman. Like Betts, Edman plays in both the infield and the outfield. After playing centerfield much of last year during his initial L.A. stint, Edman has settled back primarily at second base where he’s one of the best fielding-wise at that spot in the league.
When speaking with David Vassegh on Dodger Talk about his transition to shortstop, Betts raved about his teammate.
“One of the smartest, obviously one of the most talented,” Betts said of Edman. “He’s really been someone I can talk to. He’s really easy to talk to, because I can go ask him a dumb question and he’s not going to look at me like, ‘Why did you ask me that? Or you’re supposed to know that.’
“He literally will just tell me. If it’s a pretty simple answer, he just says it simply. He doesn’t try to belittle me, and nobody does, but definitely Tommy, he’s really easy for me to talk to and ask those questions that I probably should know as a Major League shortstop, but I don’t because I haven’t been. He’s definitely been there for me the whole time. Hitting, fielding, everything.”
As the season progresses, it’ll be interesting to see whether Betts can get into contention for a Gold Glove at shortstop. No one should bet against that goal coming to fruition.
