DENVER (AP) — Mookie Betts has played strong defense in his first full season as a shortstop, but the recent outfield play for the Los Angeles Dodgers has manager Dave Roberts fielding questions about whether the 2018 AL MVP would be more valuable to the team in right field.
Outfield defense has been a problem for Los Angeles, and Roberts called out Teoscar Hernández’s play in right after Monday night's 4-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Hernández failed to catch Ezequiel Tovar’s high popup that landed for a double in the ninth inning, and Tovar scored the winning run two pitches later.
But Roberts isn’t ready to move Betts from shortstop, where he has played all but one inning this season. Betts entered Tuesday night with a .984 fielding percentage and has committed just six errors in 376 chances.
“There’s got to be an alternative, right?” Roberts said before Tuesday night's game against Colorado. “And I think right now, the way Mookie’s playing at short, not bouncing him around, I think we feel very good about it.”
Betts met with Roberts after Monday night’s loss but the manager said it was just to check in.
“Mookie pops in my office all the time and we were just talking about his swing,” Roberts said. “I wanted him to check in with me about where he’s at, certain checkpoints as we go through the season, and that was a check-in.”
The Dodgers have options in the outfield, but Michael Conforto has struggled at the plate and Tommy Edman, Kiké Hernández and Hyeseong Kim are on the injured list.
Edman and Hernández can play infield and outfield, which would strengthen the defense.
Teoscar Hernández, despite his recent offensive struggles, is a stronger option with the bat than Conforto. The slugger had an RBI double in the first inning Tuesday night that gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
“Given everything that we were going through, we’ve gone through, we’re still finding ways to win a lot of ballgames,” Roberts said. “Just in totality, we can all do a better job, all of us. And so I just refuse to try to pin it on one position, one person. ... That’s just not what I do."
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Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernandez watches a ball hit by Los Angeles Angels' Taylor Ward go out for a solo home run during the second inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts warms up before a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours without explanation early Thursday as tensions remained high with the United States over Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
The closure ran for over four hours, according to pilot guidance issued by Iran, which lies on a key East-West flight route. International carriers diverted north and south around Iran, but after one extension, the closure appeared to have expired and several domestic flights were in the air just after 7 a.m.
Iran previously shut its airspace during the 12-day war against Israel in June and when it exchanged fire with Israel during the Israel-Hamas war. However, there were no signs of current hostilities though the closure immediately rippled through global aviation because Iran is located on a key East-West route for airlines.
“Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said the website SafeAirspace, which provides information on conflict areas and air travel. “The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.”
Iran in the past has misidentified a commercial aircraft as a hostile target. In 2020, Iranian air defense shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 with two surface-to-air missiles, killing all 176 people on board. Iran for days adamantly dismissed allegations of downing the plane as Western propaganda before finally acknowledging it.
The airspace closure came as some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporary halt” going to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Iran at the request of the United States on Thursday afternoon.
U.S. President Donald Trump made a series of vague statements Wednesday that left unclear what American action, if any, would take place against Iran.
In comments to reporters, Trump said he had been told that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, without providing many details. The shift comes a day after Trump told protesters in Iran that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” to respond to the Islamic Republic’s deadly crackdown.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also sought to tone down the rhetoric, urging the U.S. to find a solution through negotiation.
Asked by Fox News what he would say to Trump, Araghchi said: “My message is: Between war and diplomacy, diplomacy is a better way, although we don’t have any positive experience from the United States. But still diplomacy is much better than war.”
The change in tone by the U.S. and Iran came hours after the chief of the Iranian judiciary said the government must act quickly to punish the thousands who have been detained.
Activists warned that hangings of detainees could come soon. The security forces’ crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Demonstrators burn a poster depicting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of anti-government protests in Iran, in Holon, Israel Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A woman mourns next to the flag-draped coffins of a group of security forces, who were killed during anti-government protests, during their funeral ceremony, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man hands out posters of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a funeral ceremony for a group of security forces, who were killed during anti-government protests, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People take part in a rally in support of anti-government protests in Iran, Berlin Germany, Wednesday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Policemen protect the British Embassy during a protest by hardline supporters of the Iranian government, as people ride on their motorbike in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
