Heyman: Red Sox Players Guaranteeing Mookie Betts Makes All-Star Team
BOSTON (CBS) - Never mind the fans and media -- Mookie Betts' own teammates have placed lofty expectations on the 22-year-old.
There's a lot of hype surrounding the Red Sox centerfielder, and whether you personally are buying into it or not, there's a lot of smart people around the game of baseball that are.
Shane Victorino recently compared Betts to Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen, and a rival scout concurred that comparison in a conversation with Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. David Ortiz also agreed.
Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan called Betts the Red Sox's latest star-in-the-making.
The list goes on and on.
CBS Sports Major League Baseball insider Jon Heyman called 98.5 The Sports Hub Tuesday afternoon for his weekly chat on Zolak & Bertrand, and one of the topics covered in their all-encompassing interview centered around Betts.
"I talked to [Dustin] Pedroia and he said his hands are lightning quick," Heyman said of Betts. "I also talked to Hanley [Ramirez] and he compared him to McCutchen, and said they're going to guarantee he makes the All-Star team this year. He'll probably score a lot of runs. He's terrific. He looks like he's going to be a star. I talked to some scouts who believe that. Nobody has been more impressive than Betts in the Grapefruit League."
With Betts in center and Hanley Ramirez in left field, the final outfield spot belongs to Shane Victorino in right. Heyman expects Rusney Castillo to start the year in the minor leagues, where he says the Cuban will be the best player there.
"That seems to be the way things are heading right now," Heyman told the midday show.
Listen below for Zolak & Bertrand's full conversation with Jon Heyman, including the latest on Christian Vazquez, Blake Swihart and much more:
Zolak, Bertrand and Hardy had WBZ-TV's Dan Roche record "Who's Better Than Betts?" last week in the studio, and the track went over so well that Hardy had Roche record more songs. Take a listen to this Mookie Betts medley, performed by the one and only Dan Roche!
Listen below: