![\"Los](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_120,w_3000,h_1687\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/75\/01k31jqyphc3nx1ykj9p.jpg\")
The Dodgers lost their Monday night game to the Rockies when Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez dropped a fly ball with a 99.4% catch probability in the bottom of the ninth, which allowed a runner to reach second safely and the very next batter to walk things off for Colorado.<\/p>\n
It wasted an admirable seven-inning, three-run start for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and it sent Dodgers Twitter ablaze with fury at Hern\u00e1ndez’s misplay (after he also allowed the tying run to score in the bottom of the third, when he threw to third with no chance of making a play, which allowed a runner to move to second).<\/p>\n
Hern\u00e1ndez has never been an outstanding outfielder, but it’s hard to think of another instance during his Dodgers tenure that so directly led to a loss like that, hence the maelstrom of dogpiling. The Dodgers were probably feeling pretty good after their clean sweep of the Padres, but fans know they’re not out of the woods yet and fuses are short.<\/p>\n
Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times<\/em> reported that, after the game, Dave Roberts and Andrew Friedman met Gold Glove right fielder Mookie Betts for meeting, which immediately struck fans as anything but accidental.<\/p>\n After much ado about a potential position switch, Roberts, Friedman, and Betts all separately insisted that the meeting was about nothing more than how Betts was progressing with this swing.<\/p>\n There’s been an underlying question of whether or not Betts should move back to right field throughout the season. His defense at shortstop has dramatically improved this year, but his offense, up until recently, has failed to match. He got a short return to the outfield during LA’s series against the Angels, but otherwise Dodgers management has seemed steadfast in their commitment to keeping him at shortstop.<\/p>\n A private meeting with an award-winning outfielder after a game lost because of outfield defense didn’t feel like a coincidence. Even though it was probably just bad timing on everyone’s part, the argument for Betts to move still stands.<\/p>\n If the Dodgers move Betts back to right field, it’ll undoubtedly have some dramatic ripple effects for the team going forward: Betts in right, Hern\u00e1ndez in left, Michael Conforto out. It would give Alex Freeland a chance to prove he deserves a lengthier stay in the majors as LA’s primary shortstop, and it would return Betts to a position he has thousands and thousands of innings of experience at.<\/p>\n The Dodgers are still only holding on to a two-game lead of the Padres, and the two teams will see each other again immediately after this Rockies series. Something needs to change as we get down to the wire on the regular season, and the answer might’ve been staring the Dodgers in the face all along.<\/p>\n Mookie Betts, Dave Roberts, and Andrew Friedman held a closed-door meeting after Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez’s game-losing Dodgers error.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":81056,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nMookie Betts, Dave Roberts, Andrew Friedman held closed-door meeting after Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez’s game-losing Dodgers error<\/h2>\n