Mookie Betts saw his position switch as ‘a fail’ — and then he became one of MLB’s best defensive shortstops

It was the only facet of baseball in which he has ever struggled. The one aspect of the game that Mookie Betts couldn’t quite master. 

“Last year, playing shortstop was pretty much a fail,” the Dodgers star told CBS Sports last week.

Failure doesn’t sit well with a man that is moonwalking to the Hall of Fame. Even with his three World Series titles, an MVP award, eight All-Star appearances and six Gold Gloves in right field, Betts’ lackluster play at an unfamiliar position hovered over his conscience. 

So, even as the weather turned at Citi Field last weekend, he went through his pregame routine amid the pitter-patter of falling rain. 

With first base coach and infield instructor Chris Woodward lined up across from him, the pair went through their daily knee drills, isolating the lower half and forcing Betts to rely solely on his hands. They started with basic one-hop reps out in front, followed by forehand and backhand picks. Then Betts moved out toward the outfield and repeated the sequence—only now he was standing, his legs engaged in the drill.

“Every day, I’m working,” he said. 

That Betts is even playing the position — far from his usual cozy spot in right field — is a testament to his unwavering sacrifice for the Dodgers, and just as much, his freakish athletic ability.

Let’s tackle the former point first. Shortstop, next to catching, is the most demanding defensive position on the field. One that requires you to be a quarterback, having to be engaged on every play. It wears on you, too, and could impact your offensive profile. Though Betts came up as a second baseman with the Red Sox, the position isn’t nearly as demanding.

“Your brain starts fatiguing you because he doesn’t miss a pitch,” Woodward said. “That’s the one thing we demand of him, that I demand of him, you can’t take a pitch off. Like, not one pitch and that wears you down after a while. In the outfield, I see outfielders looking and working on their swing. You can’t do that.”

As players age, the demands of the position and its impact become even more pronounced. Take the Twins‘ Carlos Correa, for example, who is in his age-30 season. His OPS through 46 games is just .665, but his defense remains elite. Then there’s the Red Sox’s Trevor Story, who is 32. Story can still handle shortstop, but offensively, he might be cooked, posting a .582 OPS through his first 53 games. The mileage at shortstop — and the injuries — have caught up to both players.

Betts, who is the same age as Story, is no youngster and stands roughly four inches shorter than his peers, generously listed at 5-foot-10, 180 pounds. He likely feels the grind of the position more than both Correa and Story. But the future Hall of Famer likes the challenge.

“It’s fun when it’s something that I’ve never done,” Betts said. “So, anytime, somebody’s doing something new, like myself especially, I guess you just embrace and enjoy those challenges. But, really, it’s just to help the team be able to re-sign guys and bring new faces to help the team. So it’s kind of what it is.” 

Playing shortstop was unfamiliar for Betts last season, when the Dodgers asked him to make the move to maximize their talented lineup. Struggling was unfamiliar, too.

If you asked any of his teammates or close friends, Betts is a freak athlete, who frustrates those around him because he’s so good at everything. Ping pong? He can beat you at that. One-on-one basketball? That, too, and he can dunk despite his limited height. Bowling? He’s a professional. But shortstop? That required failure, then sweat equity — and so far, Betts has reaped the benefits. He’s tied for fifth among shortstops in Defensive Runs Saved (4) and ranks in the 91st percentile in range and the 82nd percentile in fielding run value, according to Baseball Savant.

Again, he’s 32 years old. Betts made 61 starts as the Dodgers’ shortstop in 2024. The last time he played shortstop before last year was in high school. Now, he’s doing it every day for the Dodgers, a team that has dynasty expectations with one of the deepest rosters in baseball history. It’s unfathomable. 

“Nobody comes in and just does something to that magnitude successfully right off the bat,” Betts said. “Nobody that I’ve seen. I played a lot of games last year to build up some experience, so I knew what to expect. And now I got to spend a little time this offseason actually training for it so it’s made it a little better. I still wouldn’t say I’m good at it but I’m serviceable.” 

Manager Dave Roberts echoes some of Betts’s sentiments. 

“He looks like a major-league shortstop right now,” he said. Whereas last year, there were many times I didn’t feel that way,” Roberts said.

The grind of a 162-game season will be the real test for Betts. He hasn’t had his usual success at the plate yet, slashing .254/.338/.405 with a .743 OPS and eight homers. His legs, at times, have looked heavier as he runs down the first base line, perhaps a sign of the demand of shortstop. 

But Betts’s track record supersedes his current numbers, and the great ones always find a way to get back to their own stratosphere where few can scrape. In a Los Angeles market where stars are expected to perform, Betts — in the limelight and in his 12th year in the big leagues — is welcoming the challenge.

“That’s not a position guys come to,” said Woodward. “It’s a position guys leave.”