From Corey Seager, to Trea Turner, to Mookie Betts, the Dodgers had a carousel of options at shortstop from 2021 to the beginning of last season. It was Betts who stepped up in 2025 and ensured that the team had to look no further than inward as to which player would be their primary shortstop.
After putting in a full offseason of work to prepare for the position, Betts, in his first full season at the position, was one of the best defensive shortstops in all of baseball, with his 17 defensive runs saved leading all qualified shortstops last year. While he proved to be the team’s firm option for the foreseeable future, his offense on the other hand steeply declined.
2025 was undoubtedly the worst season at the plate for Betts, as he posted career-lows in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, finishing the year four percent better than the league average hitter in terms of wRC+. Entering his second season as the Dodgers’ starting shortstop, the goal for Betts is to equate the amount of offseason work he puts in defensively and offensively rather than lean heavily into one facet, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com.
As general manager Brandon Gomes said at the Winter Meetings, he has “a little more bandwidth” to strike a more regular balance between his offensive and defensive work. The Dodgers have already seen how an offseason’s work can transform Betts in one aspect of his game. They’re counting on his hard work paying off this year as well.
Before Betts heads off to Camelback Ranch, he will be a coach at the NBA All-Star Celebrity game on Feb. 13 at Intuit Dome.
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Heading into spring training, the Dodgers have two catchers on their active roster, with Will Smith continuing to assume starting duties and Dalton Rushing serving as the replacement. Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register previews the Dodgers’ catching depth as pitchers and catchers report in two weeks.
Third base coach Dino Ebel spoke with David Vassegh of AM 570 about getting a front row experience for Miguel Rojas’ dramatic game-tying home run with one out in the top of the ninth of Game 7 of the World Series.
“I’ve been in some big moments and big games, where last year, Freddie Freeman in Game 1 hits the grand slam which we’ll never forget,” said Ebel. “When [Rojas] hit it, my hand went straight up. I knew it was gone.. When that ball went over the fence, it was just pure chills in my body… Him coming around third base was probably the best feeling I had just because he tied the game, giving us a chance to go into extra innings.”
