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GLENDALE, Ariz. — Mookie Betts is already switching spots in the infield for the Los Angeles Dodgers, moving to shortstop from second base.

Los Angeles planned for the six-time Gold Glove and seven-time All-Star outfielder to be the regular second baseman but shifted him to shortstop for Friday night’s spring training game against Cincinnati. Manager Dave Roberts called the switch, 12 days before the opener, “permanent, for now.”

Expected shortstop Gavin Lux has struggled, primarily with short hop throws to first base. The Dodgers moved the 26-year-old back to second base, the position where he made 153 starts over four years. Given a chance to be the Dodgers shortstop last year, Lux tore his right ACL while running the bases in a Feb. 27 spring training game and had season-ending surgery on March 7.

“Just to make this move right now, it’s something that the entire organization feels is the right thing to do to give us the best chance to prevent runs and to win baseball games,” Roberts said. “I think that, specific to Gavin, it gives him an opportunity to get to the other side of the diamond. … So to get him back over there, shorten the throw, it should be less of a toll on his body overall and give him an opportunity to have success.”

Los Angeles opens the season March 20 against San Diego, part of a two-game series in Seoul, South Korea.

Betts hit .307 with a career-high 39 homers and 107 RBIs in 152 games last season, finishing second in NL MVP voting. He played 107 games in right field, 70 at second base and 16 at shortstop in his 10th big league season. Those were his first games at short in the majors.

The strong-armed Betts was a minor league infielder in the Boston organization before moving to the outfield. He was the 2018 AL MVP as Boston won the World Series.

“It’s definitely a change. But it’s fun, too,” Betts told reporters before Friday’s game. “You can’t make it more pressure. It’s always a lot of pressure — especially going and being a Dodger, it’s a lot of pressure. So being a Dodger, being the shortstop for the Dodgers, is a lot of pressure. But I like it.”

Roberts said there was a conversation with Betts and Lux on Thursday about the move. The manager said both players signed off on the decision, and Betts described the talk as “cool.”

“This is something that I know he didn’t expect, we didn’t expect, but he’s excited about it,” Roberts told reporters. “And there are times he is gonna kick to second base. And I was very clear that might be a possibility at times, but to wrap his head around shortstop.”

Betts said it doesn’t matter where he plays; the goal remains the same.

“We’re all on the same page here,” he said. “We don’t care what happens. We just want to win. We don’t care how we really get there. The most important thing is winning. As for me, I don’t care. I genuinely do not care. I’ve said this a million times. I just want to win. You can put me wherever. As long as I’m on the diamond, I’m going to do the best I can do and we’ll see what happens after that.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Stars vs. Jets (May 15, 2025) Live Score – ESPN

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Stars vs. Jets (May 15, 2025) Live Score - ESPN

— Andrei Svechnikov scored the go-ahead goal with just under two minutes left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 3-1 in Game 5 on Thursday night, winning the second-round series and advancing to the Eastern Conference final for a…

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Canes oust Caps in G5 on Svechnikov’s late goal

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Canes oust Caps in G5 on Svechnikov's late goal

WASHINGTON — Andrei Svechnikov scored the go-ahead goal with just under two minutes left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 3-1 in Game 5 on Thursday night, winning the second-round series and advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for a second time in three years.

Captain Jordan Staal scored his first goal of the playoffs, and Frederik Andersen stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced, including several on Alex Ovechkin.

After a give-and-go with defenseman Sean Walker, Svechnikov’s shot got through Logan Thompson from a bad angle with 1:59 remaining, and that was the difference in a back-and-forth game.

Seth Jarvis sealed it with an empty-net goal with 26.1 seconds left.

The Hurricanes improved to 10-5 in potential closeout games in seven trips to the postseason with coach Rod Brind’Amour. They will face either the Florida Panthers in a rematch of the 2023 East finals or the Toronto Maple Leafs in a reminder of 2002. The Panthers are up 3-2 in their series with the chance to eliminate the Maple Leafs as soon as Friday night.

Carolina is 35-7-2 through 82 games and then two rounds when scoring first.

Despite an unassisted goal by Anthony Beauvillier and some important saves among the 18 from Thompson, the Capitals saw their season end after finishing atop the conference and the Metropolitan Division, and beating the Montreal Canadiens in the first round to win a playoff series for the first time since their Stanley Cup run in 2018. Washington started strong, got a few quality scoring chances but could not get through tight-checking defense to prolong the series.

After giving up the backbreaker to Svechnikov, Thompson was pulled for an extra attacker and the Capitals were unable to equalize and let Jarvis get to the loose puck for his empty-netter.

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Leafs regroup, Stolarz likely out for must-win

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Leafs regroup, Stolarz likely out for must-win

Boos rained down at the final horn in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night as the Maple Leafs moved closer to extending their 57-year Stanley Cup drought with a 6-1 blowout loss to the Panthers.

Fans even threw their jerseys on the ice as Toronto saw its 2-0 series lead turn into a 3-2 deficit. But coach Craig Berube wants his players to get out of their heads for now.

“That last game was overthinking and not playing hockey,” he said. “Right now, [players] need to stick together tonight as a team and take a breath. Stop thinking about the game. Relax. We’ll get thinking about the game when it matters.”

To get back to Toronto for a Game 7, the Leafs will have to win in Florida, but they likely won’t have starting goaltender Anthony Stolarz. He has been sidelined since Game 1 of the series with an undisclosed injury. He resumed skating over the weekend and was on the ice for a 30-minute workout on Thursday, but Berube doubted Stolarz would join the Leafs in Florida for Game 6.

That leaves his replacement Joseph Woll, who gave up five goals on 25 shots Wednesday.

Players met after the game to break down what went wrong, and Berube had a team meeting planned for Thursday after the Leafs landed back in Fort Lauderdale.

“A loss is a loss,” Berube said. “If we [had] lost 2-1 [on Wednesday] and it was a close game, would it really matter today? We got beat. I’ve been in this situation before. We’re all going to be down and dejected, but we can’t be. We have to regroup.”

That includes the Leafs’ top skaters. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander have failed to score against Florida.

In Game 5, the Panthers repeatedly stymied Toronto’s rush attempts and pounded them with a smothering forecheck that left the Leafs reeling offensively.

Meanwhile, Florida peppered Woll until defenseman Aaron Ekblad broke through with the game’s first goal late in the first period. Toronto’s own mistakes — including a Dmitry Kulikov shot beating Woll off the stick of Leafs’ forward Scott Laughton and a baffling turnover by Marner in his own zone to set up a Jesper Boqvist strike — led to a three-goal second period. After AJ Greer made it 5-1 Florida with his first-ever playoff goal, Woll was gone in favor of Matt Murray.

“[It was] very disappointing,” said Morgan Rielly. “But at the end of the day, whether we lost the way we lost last night or we lost in overtime, whatever it is, we’re still in a position where we’re ready to fight. We have to go down there [to Florida] and play our best game. We can’t dwell on all sorts of [other] things.”

The Leafs were in control of the series against Florida early on, collecting wins in Games 1 and 2 and mounting multi-goal leads in Game 3. It was late in that outing though when Florida flipped the switch — and they haven’t looked back. The Panthers rallied in the second period of Game 3 to score three goals and take their first lead of the night. Rielly’s goal at the midway point of the third period tied the game and forced overtime, but Brad Marchand scored the game-winner for Florida.

That Rielly marker would stand as Toronto’s last goal on Sergei Bobrovsky for nearly six periods of hockey. Toronto was shutout 2-0 by the Panthers in Game 4 and were dangerously close to being blanked again if not for Nick Robertson’s marker late in Game 5.

Bobrovsky struggled to open the series against the Leafs, allowing nine goals in the first two games for an .820 SV%, but he has slammed the door since late in that Game 3 win. He has turned aside 54 of 55 shots through Games 4 and 5 for a .982 SV%.

Robertson’s goal did little for the fans.

“It’s tough,” said Rielly. “But [fans] have the right to do what they want to do. We need to improve and play better. We expect to have a team that’s going to go out and win and compete. When that doesn’t happen, everyone is upset.”

Rielly is the longest-tenured member of the Leafs and has experienced the many highs and lows Toronto has endured trying to exorcise past playoff demons. Brandon Carlo — acquired at the March trade deadline — is newer to Toronto’s history but shared Rielly’s view that, despite the emphatic fan response to their poor performance, it’s not something that should linger.

“In a game like that, you don’t want to overthink those things too much,” said Carlo of the extracurriculars. “It is a passionate fanbase … there’s going to be ups and downs for sure, but from the standpoint of playoff series in the past, I’ve been in these situations myself. Had bad games in the playoffs; it’s not just subject to this group by any means. I think that needs to be taken into account, too.”

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