LOS ANGELES -- Miguel Rojas spoke Saturday, near the third-base line at Dodger Stadium, and Mookie Betts listened intently. This was Rojas delivering a seminar on the finer points of playing shortstop in the big leagues, and Betts, standing 2 feet away, was like an A+ student sitting in the front row taking notes of every word. The two men had just finished taking ground balls for a half hour, and Rojas was delivering an infielder's version of class review.
"They do that every day," Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Rojas began his shortstop tutorials in spring training as Betts prepared his move to the position. "8:15 every morning," said Dino Ebel, the Dodgers' third-base coach.
To this day, Rojas and Betts will talk arm angles and foot movement and other nuances of fielding the position. Rojas is regarded as an elite defensive shortstop, and Betts, a Gold Glove-winning outfielder who has transitioned to the infield full time for the first time since he was a minor leaguer in the Red Sox organization, is doing all he can to be as good as he can be at age 31. "He's obsessed with it," Roberts said. "His focus is unreal."
Betts' climb to another echelon is one of a half dozen early-season trends that stand out -- but which ones will still be true at season's end?
