LOS ANGELES — Mookie Betts might just be the only one who saw this coming.
In his first full season at shortstop, Betts is a Gold Glove finalist. He came into this season having won six Gold Gloves in right field, and here he is, up for the top defensive honor at a position where he has spent countless hours honing his craft.
He alone understands the grueling work that has gone into becoming a big league shortstop. Another piece of hardware would be nice, sure. But he already has all the validation he needs.
“I know I could do it. I believed in myself. I always have belief in myself,” Betts said. “But I genuinely don’t care.”
As blasé as Betts may sound, his coaches, teammates and even opponents are amazed enough to make up the difference.
“I never had a season with that many defensive runs saved or anything like that,” said veteran Miguel Rojas, also a Gold Glove finalist as a utility man. “And that talks about the willingness to play every single day, regardless of what you’re doing offensively.”
Added Brewers manager Pat Murphy: “If you’re talking about a player that really was valuable to this team this year, I’m saying Mookie Betts is No. 1. … Imagine Steph Curry just saying, ‘OK, he’s going to go play power forward and guard the other team’s best player.’ That’s what it’s like. So he’s going to guard the other team’s best player, who’s bigger, whatever. Never done it and he does it, and they win still. And he puts up his 30-plus a game.”
And perhaps Betts’ manager said it best.
“I think the only person on this planet that believed that Mookie Betts would be in this conversation,” Dave Roberts said, “was Mookie Betts.”
Betts’ fellow NL Gold Glove finalists at shortstop are the Braves’ Nick Allen and the Cardinals’ Masyn Winn. Betts very well may be beaten out for the honor by Winn, who made only three errors — tied with Cal Ripken Jr. in 1990, Omar Vizquel in 2000 and Kevin Newman in 2021 for the fewest by a shortstop in a season (min. 120 games) — but as he said, he’s not doing it for the recognition.
Then again, being a finalist could mean more than Betts lets on, as earlier this postseason, he admitted that he wasn’t sure if he would finish this year as the Dodgers’ starting shortstop.
Betts also made a move to shortstop in 2024, although he had gone into Spring Training that year expecting to play second base. But after Gavin Lux struggled defensively at short, the Dodgers changed course and shifted Betts there.
It wasn’t an easy transition for Betts, who made a career-high nine errors while playing shortstop last year. But he remained there until he fractured his left hand in June. While he had been expected to return to shortstop, he came back as the right fielder down the stretch because it allowed the Dodgers to field their best offensive and defensive lineups.
This year, Betts had the entire offseason to prepare for his position change. He poured himself into his work, trying as best he could to emulate game situations through his drills. Sometimes his wife, Brianna, would even roll him ground balls. She also told him to trust the process and give himself grace.
Perhaps that’s why Betts isn’t necessarily aiming for a seventh Gold Glove. He wants to be elite, but first and foremost, he wants to do what he can for his team.
“It was a goal to be the best I could be,” Betts said. “If it came with a Gold Glove, cool. If it didn’t come with a Gold Glove, cool. I can go to bed at night knowing that I did everything I could. That’s all I care about.”
This ended up being a trying season for Betts, who lost around 18 pounds due to a stomach illness at the end of Spring Training. He slumped at the plate for the first two-thirds of the season, which he now believes is likely a byproduct of losing all that weight.
And yet, he made it count with his glove. He accrued the most bWAR (4.8) and third-best fWAR (3.4) of any qualified player with a .732 OPS or lower this season, even though that was the lowest mark of his 12-year big league career.
“He doesn’t take days off,” Rojas said. “Even when we have an off-day, he’ll still go out there and is asking [for] ways to get better. I think it’s a product of being a relentless worker every single day.”
Betts’ defense has helped the Dodgers close in on their third World Series title in six years. He has made invaluable plays along the way, with key highlights including a key wheel play in NLDS Game 2 in Philadelphia and a Jeter-esque jump throw in NLCS Game 3.
At this point, playing shortstop comes as naturally to Betts as right field. That tells him that he’s where he wants to be.
“I think once I get to the ball,” Betts said, “I believe and trust in my athletic ability to make a play.”
