Gold Glove finalist Mookie Betts fielding (and

The debate over whether or not Mookie Betts can play shortstop was settled long in the past.

The debate now is whether or not Mookie Betts can play shortstop better than anybody in baseball. That dialogue could soon be drawing to a close, too.

Because a day after being named a finalist for a Gold Glove, Betts put a large exclamation level on Thursday’s 3-1 playoff win over the Milwaukee Brewers with a spectacular play to start the ninth inning.

The victory leaves the Dodgers a win away from advancing to their second straight World Series, a journey they may full Friday in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series. And a big purpose they’re there’s the regular protection of Betts, a six-time Gold Glove winner in the outfield who has made the troublesome transfer to the center of the infield appear simple.

“I think the only person on this planet that believed that Mookie Betts would be in this conversation was Mookie Betts,” Dodger supervisor Dave Roberts said. “It’s just something that has never been done. I can’t even — it’s incredible. Obviously I’m at a loss for words.”

Betts tried the place last yr but Roberts said the arrogance wasn’t there, so he moved Betts back to the outfield. There was no likelihood that would occur this fall.

Few perceive the problem of what Betts has finished more than those who have performed the place. Yet Miguel Rojas, the person Betts changed at shortstop — and a Gold Glove finalist himself this season as a utility participant — said he’s not shocked because he has seen how laborious Betts works.

“He doesn’t take days off,” Rojas said of Betts, who is incessantly among the first gamers on the sphere for pregame drills and among the last to depart. “Even when we have an off day, he’ll still go out there and is asking ways to get better. I think it’s a product of being a relentless worker every single day. He’s never satisfied. He’s always trying to get better.

“For me to be there every single day to watch him perform and watch his work ethic, it’s been impressive.”

Part of that work, Betts said, entails watching video of every fielding play he makes. That contains the good ones, just like the ninth-inning play Thursday in which he ranged in the outlet to backhand Andrew Vaughn’s grounder, then rose up and delivered a strong one-hop bounce throw across his physique to first baseman Freddie Freeman to get Vaughn simply.

“I go back and watch all my plays, even the routine ones, just to learn what I can do better,” he said.

Asked if he’s ever shocked by what he sees, Betts, who has yet to make an error in the playoffs, shrugged.

“I’m just doing my job. I’m just doing my job going out there and playing short, that’s all.

“Once I get to the ball, I believe and trust in my athletic ability to make a play.”

Rojas, who has performed six positions in the majors, said shortstop is such a laborious place to play because of the mental focus it calls for. An outfielder may give you the chance to assume about his hitting for a few pitches, but the shortstop, who quarterbacks the infield, doesn’t have that luxurious.

“In the middle of the year he was in a slump offensively. But he never let the defense down. And that’s really impressive,” Rojas said. “He always said it to me, ‘Even though I’m sucking right now at hitting, I’m never going to be bad at defense. And I’m going to catch every single ball.’

“That’s the mentality that you have to have to be a really good shortstop.”

In the postseason, he’s change into a actually good offensive shortstop as nicely. After slumping to a career-low .258 average in the common season, Betts is slashing .297/.381/.459 and shares the crew lead with 11 hits and 5 extra-base hits in the postseason.

However, the numbers and the awards imply little to him, he said; Betts cares far more about profitable. And as for proving himself at shortstop? Others, including his supervisor, could also be shocked, but he isn’t.

“I know I could do it. I believed in myself. I always have belief in myself,” he said. “It was a goal to be the best I could be. 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.”

Just a season in the past there have been mornings when he’d get out of that mattress wishing he might go back to proper discipline. That doesn’t occur anymore.

“I would say the best athletes are the guys in the dirt,” he said. “It was fun while it lasted. I enjoy being in the dirt now.”