It was a race aganist the clock, with not even manager Dave Roberts knowing Betts’ status at the time of his pregame media scrum. It was the exclamation point on a two-homer, five-RBI game for the left-handed slugger, who also added an outfield assist with a fourth-inning dart that got an out at home plate.ĬHICAGO - Yonny Hernández started the day on the Dodgers active roster for Thursday night’s game against the Chicago Cubs.īy game time, however, Mookie Betts had made an unexpected return from the paternity list to replace.īetts, who has missed the last two games following the birth of his second child, traveled to Chicago on Thursday afternoon and hustled to Wrigley Field just in time to be active for the game. Gifted a down-the-middle cutter that was begging to be squared up, Outman delivered a no-doubt grand slam to give the Dodgers a 6-2 win. CIBt6ZmY7m- Los Angeles Dodgers April 21, 2023ĬHICAGO - A year ago, James Outman was hardly on the Dodgers MLB radar, a solid but overlooked prospect who’d spent years reworking his stiff “caveman” swing.Ī month ago, he wasn’t certain to make their opening day roster, despite a breakout spring performance and an open spot on the team.īut with every new opportunity he’s received this season, the 25-year-old rookie has risen to the occasion.Īnd in the biggest moment of his young career Thursday- facing a bases-loaded, full-count, ninth-inning at-bat in a tied game between the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field- Outman took another giant step forward, putting an explosive final touch on his most signature game yet.
“Getting off a plane, having a baby, being willing to come into a ballgame and take an at-bat and then go out and play a position he’s never played before at the big league level. “I just give Mookie a lot of credit tonight,” Roberts said. But getting to play short is a lot of fun.”Īnd there might be more of it in Betts’ future, with Roberts saying postgame he was already considering whether the former MVP should more looks at shortstop, perhaps as soon as Friday. “That was like a dream come true,” Betts said. That much was clear in the bottom of the eighth, when Betts helped the Dodgers escape a two-on, no-out jam by leaping over a baserunner on a crucial double-play. “The guy can play anywhere on a baseball field.” “He looks extremely natural,” Roberts said. It was a decision born out of necessity, with few other healthy shortstop options available on the roster but one the manager expected Betts, who came up as a second baseman and takes grounders at both middle infield spots almost every single day, to happily embrace. Roberts had hinted earlier in the week that Betts might see time at shortstop, the position he was drafted at in 2011 but hadn’t played professionally since the 2013 developmental Arizona Fall League.
“I just told Doc, I just want to win, so I’ll play wherever,” Betts said. Then, in the bottom half of the inning, he had no other option but to put the six-time Gold Glove winning outfielder at the infield’s most difficult position.
But with the score tied in the seventh, Roberts elected to pinch-hit Betts for Williams.
So I did.”īetts wasn’t in the starting lineup, with Luke Williams instead slotting in at short while Miguel Rojas (hamstring) on the injured list and Chris Taylor (oblique) still not cleared to throw. “Freddie called me and said, ‘As soon as you get here, hurry up and get dressed because you’re going to play.’ He told me to get my mind right. “I was, like, three miles away for 40 minutes,” Betts joked. Such was the conclusion to a whirlwind day for the Dodgers star right fielder, who began the day in Los Angeles on paternity leave before hopping on a plane, flying to Chicago, and battling traffic to simply get to the stadium in time to be activated for the game. CHICAGO - The Dodgers arrived at Wrigley Field on Thursday with Yonny Hernández as their backup shortstop.īy the time the Dodgers needed one, however, it was Mookie Betts who came trotting into the game.
0 kommentar(er)
