![]() ![]() ![]() “The tax of continuing to run out to the outfield and log miles out there adds up,” Roberts said. Betts, after all, dislikes being a designated hitter, and it’s another way to keep his bat in the lineup without having to expend his legs in the outfield. It also might have another added benefit.īetts, and by proxy the Dodgers, have made a habit of considering the 30-year-old’s day in the infield to be glorified off days. They might not have a better choice, particularly against right-handed pitching when they can deploy three left-handed hitters in their outfield among James Outman, Jason Heyward and David Peralta. They’re not just throwing Betts out there because he can do it. Entering the day, only the Oakland Athletics had gotten less out of the position (7 wRC+) than the Dodgers (24 wRC+). He added another extra-base hit with his two-run double in the ninth to put the game out of reach. “He can kind of do anything,” Clayton Kershaw added.īetts’ two-run homer in the third represented just the sixth extra-base hit - and 11th hit overall - the Dodgers have gotten out of the shortstop position through the year’s first 23 games. “The more you see him, the more he amazes you.” And for the most part, he held his own, starting the double play that sealed the club’s win. The former MVP then started his first game at shortstop in the big leagues, his first start at the position since he suited up for the 2012 Lowell Spinners alongside José Iglesias and current Dodgers game planning coach J.T. Then, an array of ground balls - to his left, to his right, choppers, soft liners, the works - as Betts fired throw after throw to mental skills coach Brent Walker, who was posted up at first base. First, some short-hops on the grass near the visitors dugout with infield coach Dino Ebel. I don’t know if we’re out there trying to hit homers, but they’re going over the fence.”īetts’ pregame routine took close to an hour Sunday. But right now it’s helping us stay afloat. “Obviously you don’t want to live and die by it. When this team is hitting, it’s been by banging the ball over the fence, taking its boom-or-bust nature literally. Of the Dodgers’ 12 wins, 11 have required at least one homer. Martinez followed Muncy’s two-run homer with a solo shot of his own, boosting the Dodgers’ home run total to a National League-best 43 on the season and giving the club its first consecutive wins in 17 days. “Sometimes this game will tell you what needs to happen and maybe it was telling me that I needed to make some changes.” ![]() “That’s all I’m focused on doing, just trying to be mentally clear in the box and allow my swing to work the way it’s supposed to work,” Muncy said. The damage to his elbow and mind seems to have stepped back to the periphery. He’s been positively Muncian, something that was only visible in spurts last fall as he worked his way back from torn ligaments in his elbow but was very present in his pre-injury 2021 campaign. “It’s been one of his, maybe his best, tear (at the plate),” manager Dave Roberts said of Muncy. Since starting 4-for-33 with 17 strikeouts, he’s 14-for-38 (.368) with an on-base percentage of. ![]() And to think that just a week and a half ago, Muncy was in his own head, searching and clinging to an adjustment that had saved him a year ago. ![]()
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