LOS ANGELES — With the Los Angeles Dodgers signing Kyle Tucker, manager Dave Roberts again faces the enviable task of needing to decide on a lineup order for a handful of superstars.

The last time Roberts notably faced such a decision was after the Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani to a staggering 10-year, $700 million contract. That ultimately resulted in Ohtani unseating Mookie Betts’ as the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter.

Now with Tucker in the fold, there are indications of Betts’ spot in the lineup being affected once again.

When Roberts first was asked about a potential Dodgers lineup order with Tucker, he suggested “second or third seems to make sense” for the 29-year-old.

Mookie Betts moving down in lineup?

Just over one week after those comments, Roberts offered more insight as to how the Dodgers’ lineup may take shape.

“I’ve thought about it. I’m not kind of emboldened to how we’re going to do it. I do feel great about having Shohei lead off. I do feel great about having Will in the five. And then after that, I’m going to kind of read and react,” he said during DodgerFest.

“But kind of the handedness, you certainly see Mookie in the three. But I’m kind of going to see how it goes as we get to spring.”

Betts batting third would result in the Dodgers having back-to-back left-handed hitters in Ohtani, and either Tucker or Freddie Freeman. More times than not, their preference has been to alternate batters by handedness.

Ohtani and Freeman were two of the top four left-handed hitters against left-handed pitching last year, and Tucker ranked fifth. His 134 wRC+ against lefties was only two points behind Freeman’s.

Thus, there seemingly isn’t a wrong choice between Freeman and Tucker for batting second, and the other sliding into the cleanup spot.

But for Betts, he has not regularly hit third in a lineup during any point of his career. The bulk of his 66 career games (64 starts) in that spot came when Betts started 40 games and hit third for the Boston Red Sox in 2017.

Betts hit third for the Dodgers in 12 games during the 2021 season, batting just .214/.353/.357 with two home runs, three RBI, nine walks and 10 strikeouts in 51 plate appearances.

Regardless of where Betts hits in the lineup, the Dodgers need him to bounce back from a disappointing showing in 2025. It’s a probability the four-time World Series champion is confident will come to be.

“I just got to get back to re-wiring and trusting myself. Not worrying about having a bad year last year, just kind of putting that out of my mind,” Betts said at DodgerFest. “Not even trying to have a good year this year. Just play, have fun, and we’ll get there whenever we get there.

“More just re-wiring the mechanics of my brain, the motor pattern. It kind of got out of whack early on, and once it got out of whack early, it was kind of a snowball effect. Now I’ve gotten to put the training wheels on, take my time, and really stack positive days over and over.

“Now we’re in a really good spot.”

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