finalist

The debate over whether Mookie Betts can play shortstop was settled long ago.

The debate now is whether Mookie Betts can play shortstop better than anyone in baseball. That discussion may soon be drawing to a close, too.

Because a day after being named a finalist for a Gold Glove, Betts put a huge exclamation point 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 could complete Friday in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series. And a big reason they’re there is the steady defense of Betts, a six-time Gold Glove winner in the outfield who has made the difficult move to the middle of the infield seem easy.

“I think the only person on this planet that believed that Mookie Betts would be in this conversation was Mookie Betts,” Dodger manager 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 position last year but Roberts said the confidence wasn’t there, so he moved Betts back to the outfield. There was no chance that would happen this fall.

Few understand the difficulty of what Betts has done more than those who have played the position. Yet Miguel Rojas, the man Betts replaced at shortstop — and a Gold Glove finalist himself this season as a utility player — said he’s not surprised because he has seen how hard Betts works.

“He doesn’t take days off,” Rojas said of Betts, who is frequently among the first players on the field for pregame drills and among the last to leave. “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, involves watching video of every fielding play he makes. That includes the brilliant ones, like the ninth-inning play Thursday in which he ranged in the hole to backhand Andrew Vaughn’s grounder, then rose up and delivered a strong one-hop jump throw across his body to first baseman Freddie Freeman to get Vaughn easily.

“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 surprised by what he sees, Betts, who has yet to make an error in the playoffs, shrugged.

Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts makes a leaping, cross-body throw to retire Andrew Vaughn at first base during the ninth inning of Game 3 of the NLCS on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“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 played six positions in the majors, said shortstop is such a hard place to play because of the mental focus it demands. An outfielder might be able to think about his hitting for a few pitches, but the shortstop, who quarterbacks the infield, doesn’t have that luxury.

“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 become a really good offensive shortstop as well. After slumping to a career-low .258 average in the regular season, Betts is slashing .297/.381/.459 and shares the team lead with 11 hits and five extra-base hits in the postseason.

However, the numbers and the awards mean little to him, he said; Betts cares far more about winning. And as for proving himself at shortstop? Others, including his manager, may be surprised, 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 ago there were mornings when he’d get out of that bed wishing he could go back to right field. That doesn’t happen 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.”

Poised to set a record for player popularity and elite production, the Dodgers had eight finalists for the National League starting lineup in the 2025 All-Star Game as voted by fans.

Voters had 48 hours to choose between the two players at each position who had accumulated the most votes over the last month in what MLB called Phase 1. Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani already was in the starting lineup because he led NL players in Phase 1 votes.

Who in Blue would join him after Phase 2?

MLB announced the winners Wednesday afternoon, and Dodgers catcher Will Smith and first baseman Freddie Freeman will start along with Ohtani. The other five Dodgers finalists — second baseman Tommy Edman, shortstop Mookie Betts, third baseman Max Muncy and outfielders Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages — were outvoted and won’t start.

The record of five starting players held by the 1976 Cincinnati Reds, the 1956 and 1957 Cincinnati Redlegs, and the 1939 New York Yankees still stands. The Dodgers fell short, despite the bevy of finalists.

It is the ninth All-Star berth for Freeman, who is batting .308 with 21 doubles, and the third for Smith, who leads the NL with a .320 batting average and .419 on-base percentage. Both players have 10 home runs.

Eleven-time All-Star Mike Trout was the only Angels player among the American League finalists, and he did not finish among the top three outfielders in Phase 2. Thousand Oaks High product and Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson was voted the AL starter at shortstop, beating out Bobby Witt Jr.

Finalists not voted as starters have no guarantee of making the All-Star Game as a reserve. Pitchers and reserves for the 32-man rosters will be determined by a vote of MLB players and the commissioner’s office.

Complete rosters of 20 position players and 12 pitchers will be announced at 2 p.m. PDT Sunday on ESPN. The All-Star Game will take place July 15 at Truist Park in Atlanta. Managers Dave Roberts of the Dodgers and Aaron Boone of the Yankees have no say in the selections.

The teams that boasted five starters included Hall of Famers and also lesser-known players.

The ’39 Yankees had All-Star starters Joe DiMaggio, George Selkirk, Bill Dickey, Red Rolfe and Joe Gordon. Red Ruffing was named the starting pitcher by manager Joe McCarthy, making the ’39 Yankees the only team with six starting players.

The most recent team to land five All-Star starters was the ’76 Cincinnati Reds, known as the Big Red Machine, led by future Hall of Famers Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan. Pete Rose, Dave Concepción and George Foster also started.

The Reds were called the Redlegs from 1953 to 1959 because of a period of intense anti-communism in the U.S. To distance themselves from the Red Scare, the Reds temporarily changed their name.

Cincinnati fans loved their team by any name, casting a deluge of last-minute votes two years in a row that eventually required intervention from MLB commissioner Ford Frick and caused MLB to eliminate fan voting for more than a decade.

Frick stood by the voting in ’56 despite complaints that five Redlegs were voted in, saying, “Everybody had a chance to vote, so there should be no squawks.”

A year later he changed his tune when last-minute voting — remember, all votes were handwritten and manually tabulated — resulted in an all-Redlegs lineup. Frick swiftly stepped in and replaced three Redlegs with future Hall of Famers Stan Musial, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron.

Redlegs fans were incensed, some making an effigy of the commissioner and driving it through Cincinnati tied to a truck. The reaction from players was more muted, with Redlegs center fielder Gus Bell saying, “I’m not exactly burned up about being replaced by Willie.”

Dodgers who finished second likely will have little quarrel with the results. Players who edged them out in voting are having excellent seasons: third baseman Manny Machado, shortstop Francisco Lindor, second baseman Ketel Marte and outfielders Ronald Acuña Jr., Kyle Tucker and Harvard-Westlake High product Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8-6, 2.51 earned-run average) of the Dodgers is a strong candidate to make the NL pitching staff. At least one Angels player must be chosen as a reserve or pitcher, and the nod could go to Trout, who has 13 home runs but is batting .230.

Other possibilities for the resurgent Angels are catcher Logan O’Hoppe (17 home runs), shortstop Zach Neto (12 home runs, team-high 2.7 WAR), outfielder Jo Adell (18 homers, 44 runs batted in) and starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi (2.79 ERA in 96.2 innings).

MLB All-Star Starting Lineups

National League
C: Will Smith, Dodgers
1B: Freddie Freeman, Dodgers
2B: Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks
SS: Francisco Lindor, Mets
3B: Manny Machado, Padres
OF: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs
OF: Kyle Tucker, Cubs
OF: Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves
DH: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers

American League
C: Cal Raleigh, Mariners
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
2B: Gleyber Torres, Tigers
SS: Jacob Wilson, Athletics
3B: Jose Ramirez, Guardians
OF: Aaron Judge, Yankees
OF: Riley Greene, Tigers
OF: Javier Baez, Tigers
DH: Ryan O’Hearn, Orioles