Roberts’ tweaks to the infield continue
The Dodgers remain committed to a middle-infield makeover that saw Mookie Betts and Gavin Lux switch positions on March 7, Lux moving from shortstop to second base because of his early spring throwing woes and Betts, the six-time Gold Glove Awardwinning right fielder, moving from second base to shortstop.
But manager Dave Roberts reserved the right to tweak that alignment when the Dodgers face a left-handed starting pitcher and when they want to streng then their defense in the late innings of close games.
Miguel Rojas, the 35-year-old veteran who was the starting shortstop in 2023 but will fill a utility role this season, is the bestfielding shortstop of the three, so it makes sense for the right-handed hitter to play there on the nights he starts, with the right-handed-hitting Betts playing second and the left-handed-hitting Lux moving to the bench.
“It’s certainly not a platoon situation as far as Mookie playing second base against lefties,” Roberts said earlier this week. “But the times we can get Miguel in there, we’ll get him in there at shortstop, and Mookie will slide over [to second base].”
Roberts was noncommittal when asked how often he would insert Rojas at shortstop and move Betts to second base in place of Lux to tighten up the defense late. On Thursday, Rojas took over at short and Betts moved to second in the ninth.
“You know what? It’s certainly an option,” Roberts said. “I’m going to keep a close eye on it. … If I feel that there doesn’t need to be a late-game defensive change, I won’t make it. But if something tells me I need to insert Miguel Rojas and kind of move some pieces around, I can do that too.”
There were some bright, flashing red lights in the fourth inning of Tuesday night’s Freeway Series exhibition finale against the Angels that could push Roberts toward using Rojas more in the later innings.
With one out, Betts got his glove on but could not make a clean, back-handed grab of a Brandon Drury grounder to the hole that squirted into left field for a single.
“The play in the six-hole is the toughest play,” Roberts said. “So I think getting in a position to get to his arm on balls to his right has probably been the biggest challenge.”
After a Nolan Schanuel walk, Betts bobbled a Miguel Sano grounder and threw late to first for an error to load the bases. Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe struck out. Betts then bobbled a Zach Neto grounder but recovered in time to throw to first to end the inning. In Thursday’s opener, Betts bounced a throw past first base for an error on a Victor Scott fifth-inning grounder.
“I think it’s just one of those things where he’s got to continue to get repetitions,” Roberts said of Betts, who made only 12 starts at shortstop in his first 10 big-league seasons.
“Ball to his right, ball to his left, the 102-mph grounder to the hole … there are a lot of plays that he hasn’t seen yet that he’s going to see and have different chances. He’s only going to get better with repetitions.”
Rehabilitation report
Walker Buehler, who is being slow-played in his return from a second Tommy John surgery, threw a four-inning, 50-pitch simulated game on Monday. The veteran right-hander is not expected to return to the rotation until early May, but the Dodgers haven’t determined what his next step will be.
“We’ve still got to decide if he’s going to go to triple-A or if he’s going to go to Arizona and kind of continue to build up,” Roberts said before Thursday’s game. “I’m not sure we’ve made that decision yet, but Walker’s coming. It’s coming sooner than I think we anticipated, which is a good thing for everyone.”
The outlook for Blake Treinen and Brusdar Graterol, a pair of hard-throwing right-handers who are expected to play prominent bullpen roles, is cloudy as well. Treinen left a March 10 exhibition game against the Texas Rangers after taking a line drive to his right rib cage. X-rays and a CT scan showed no fractures but rather a bruised lung. Graterol opened the season on the 10-day injured list because of right-shoulder inflammation. “They’re both playing catch, they both had a good day of throwing on flat ground [in Anaheim on Tuesday], but they’re not throwing bullpens right now,” Roberts said. “So we’re still a ways away on both of those guys.”