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"THE FUTURE AIN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE"
Mookie Betts does everything
right on
Opening Day at Fenway
April 13, 2015 ... Just
accept the fact that Mookie Betts is one exciting young player, cut
in the mold of Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury, players who made
an immediate impact on team performance while creating excitement.
This is a 22-year-old kid who eats ice cream every day.
He went 2 for 4 with four RBIs, two steals on the same play, and a great catch
in center. All four RBIs came against Jordan Zimmermann, one of the best
starting pitchers in the league, but it didn’t matter. Betts conquered him. This
was a good example of why you don’t trade Betts for Cole Hamels or Zimmermann.
He’s an everyday player who, if he keeps up this type of play, will be integral
to far more wins than even the best starting pitchers can provide. Betts is a
bundle of baseball and you can’t wait to see his next at-bat.
On Opening Day at Fenway Park Monday, which part of the game did you not see him
conquer? He reached on a leadoff walk courtesy of Zimmermann, who will become a
free agent at the end of the season and might be of interest to the Red Sox.
With the shift on and David Ortiz up, he broke for second, stole the bag, and
upon popping himself up saw no one manning third because of the overshift. He
tried to outrace third baseman Yunel Escobar and Zimmermann, who had the ball.
After the Nationals challenged that Betts was tagged out at second base and
third base, a review determined he won both races.
In the first inning, he made a tremendous leaping catch to rob Bryce Harper of
extra bases near the right-center fence, robbing him of a home run. When you
think about how infrequently Betts has played center field in his life and that
he’s pretty much cutting his teeth playing in the biggest center field in
baseball, the story keeps getting better.
He’s no Jackie Bradley defensively, but very few are. Yet if someone had to
supplant Bradley, who started to find his hitting stroke in spring training and
currently is in Pawtucket, then Betts has been a strong replacement, giving
Boston the leadoff hitter it has lacked since Ellsbury signed with the Yankees
as a free agent.
Betts helped in adding crooked numbers to the score. In the second inning, with
Xander Bogaerts and Sandy Leon aboard, Betts showed his quick hands and power,
slamming a 1-1 slider by Zimmermann into the Monster seats to give Boston a 4-0
lead. In the third, there was an RBI infield hit.
A year ago, he was playing second base for the Portland Sea Dogs and wowing them
there. What a meteoric rise. But it was his time and time to bury the old New
York Met “Mookie” memories from the 1986 World Series and start the new and
positive ones. |
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