Tim Rogers
Pedro Moura, writing for The Athletic, had an interesting tidbit of news. Shortstop Nick Shumpert, former Braves farmhand, and cousin of Mookie Betts signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers. For the moment, he has been assigned to Double-A and will report to Spring Training with the other minor league players. Of course, we have no idea when the minor leaguers get to report to Spring Training.
So the Dodgers signed Mookie Betts’s cousin, shortstop Nick Shumpert, after Betts worked with him throughout this offseason. You can read about it here. https://t.co/4sxYsTn1Ls
— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) February 5, 2021
Related: More Prospects Coming
Other than being the cousin of Mookie Betts, he is also the son of former major leaguer, Terry Shumpert. Most importantly, Shumpert has been working with Mookie on his overall game including his hitting. That may not be normally significant but let’s remember what Mookie did for Austin Barnes as a hitter. Barnes basically was in a two-year slump but Mookie helped get him out of it.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHWKx4In7UN/
Here is an example of Mookie’s impact on Shumpert.
On their first day together in November, Shumpert warmed up aimlessly and aggressively, waving his bat around. Betts eyed his cousin for a minute before stopping him.
“Do it with a purpose,” Betts told Shumpert. “That’s when you’re gonna get the most out of your swing. That’s how you’re going to avoid bad habits.” – The Athletic
You can follow Nick Shumpert on Twitter (@nshumpert_22) and Instagram (@ nickshumpert). Best of luck to Nick as he joins the Dodgers. Congratulations!
