Dodgers Were 'Worried' About Physical Grind Of Moving Mookie Betts to Shortstop

Should Los Angeles move him away from shortstop?

The Los Angeles Dodgers made the decision to move star Mookie Betts over to the shortstop position just before the start of the regular season. Despite him preparing all offseason to be the second baseman for the team, throwing issues from infielder Gavin Lux caused Los Angeles to make a change.

Betts hasn't let the change get him down and he is still playing at an All-Star level. On the year, he has hit .338 with eight home runs and 30 runs batted in. However, it seems that not everyone was fully on board with the move of Betts to shortstop.

Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel spoke with Doug McKain of Dodgers Nation about Betts. He mentioned that at first, the team was concerned about the physical toll playing shortstop may take on the star.

"Well, I think, you know, I was worried, we were worried about the physical side of it. The grind that he does every single day, is it going to affect him in the batter’s box? And it hasn’t. So this guy is prepared for this role. This guy, he's in phenomenal shape. I mean great athlete, and now he's being challenged and that's what I like about Mookie. He's being challenged and now he's trying to rise to the top."

Betts himself has spoken about how tough playing the position has been but he has been putting his best effort forward. He is a professional through and through but even Betts has his limitations.

Until the Dodgers can make a move for a full-time shortstop, if they do, Betts will continue to do what he can. He has performed well other than a few mistakes but that's to be expected from someone who hadn't played the position consistently since his high school days.