It’s been a tough offensive season for the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ shortstop, Mookie Betts. In what feels like years ago, Betts started the season by getting a nasty stomach virus.
This illness caused him to lose up to 20 pounds. Moreover, he is now experiencing career lows in almost all major statistical hitting categories.
There will always be speculation around baseball’s best player, like Betts, and one of the speculative ideas that has been swirling around is whether or not his full-time positional change to shortstop has affected him with the bat.
Betts also missed a few games at the end of July due to the death of his stepfather. Furthermore, he had to spend time in Tennessee with his mother and some of his family.
Dodgers Star Opens Up About Offensive Troubles
The good news for Betts is that he may be breaking out of his slump little by little, as he’s put together a five-game hitting streak and homered for the first time on August 8.
The home run led to Betts opening up a bit about the death of his stepfather, and what the year has been like for him:
“Every home run I’ve ever hit [his stepfather] always texted me, ‘Home run Mookie time!’” Betts said. “That’s just what he says and then it has the number of homers after. Not getting that text was sad.”
“I was thinking about it after hitting the home run. I’d always know. It was like clockwork. I’d look after the game and it would say ‘Text sent at 8:12’ or whenever I hit the home run. It’s a situation that kind of sucks. It’s been a year. It’s life.”
Mookie Betts is hitting just .240 on the season. That production is acceptable for some MLB players, but the 32-year-old new shortstop has a higher standard for himself.
His OPS is also a career low at .680. He has just 30 extra-base hits this season, whereas he’s usually in the 55-60+ range in his usual offensive years.
“I just got lost and I spiraled. “It’s the first time I’ve ever spiraled like that. I was in new territory in a slump like this. Usually, something just happens and I get out of it. It wasn’t working that way. At that point, you have to realize it’s not just going to happen.”
Mookie Betts Can Still Finish Strong
The Los Angeles Dodgers are still in a tight division race with the San Diego Padres, and could use Betts to finish strong during the 40 or so games that the Dodgers have left on their schedule.
For an offense that has been struggling as of late, the re-emergence of Betts as a real threat hitting behind Shohei Ohtani could pay real dividends down the final stretch.
This roster is built for October, and this lackluster offensive season can be put in the rearview quickly if Betts has a few big moments in the playoffs.
He is going into the final month and a half of the season with a new mindset, and that is chalking the season from a statistical perspective. However, understanding he can still make a play or two every game that can change the outcome, whether it be getting an RBI or making a solid defensive play.
