Catcher Will Smith is moving up to the two-spot for the Dodgers, with second baseman Mookie Betts sliding down the three-hole amid an unproductive stretch in the Fall Classic, the team announced ahead of Game 5 on Wednesday (Sportsnet, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT).
“I feel like that’s the best way to win the game tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Both players were alerted and both players are all on board. That was the decision I made.”
Betts has struggled against the Blue Jays, batting only .158 with a .431 OPS in 19 at-bats. He has only scored one run and has been held without an RBI in four games.
He has not batted in the three-spot for the Dodgers since 2021. It is also the first time this post-season that the 33-year-old former MVP will hit outside of the two-hole.
“I think in the post-season you need to be a little more reactive than in the regular season,” Roberts said of the decision to drop Betts.
Smith, meanwhile, has been a steady presence in the cleanup spot for most of the series, batting .235 with a .762 OPS, one home run and four RBIs. His homer came in the Dodgers’ Game 2 win, knocking a solo shot off Kevin Gausman in the seventh inning.
In their last matchup against Blue Jays starter Trey Yesavage in Game 1, both Betts and Smith managed one hit.
In addition to the move at the top of the lineup, the Dodgers will also be taking centre fielder Andy Pages out of the nine-hole spot in favour of Alex Call.
“Obviously, getting Alex in there, I felt at the bottom, just the at-bat quality, seeing pitches, the potential to get somebody on base for Shohei at the top,” Roberts said of the decision to call on the 31-year-old.
Pages, while an above-average defender in centre field, has struggled at the dish, picking up only one hit in 15 plate appearances. With the move, Kiké Hernandez will slide over to centre field and Call will take his spot in left.
Call, though he also only has one hit, has picked up his lone base-knock in five plate appearances. He batted .267 with a .746 OPS in the regular season.
