- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,170,815
- Reaction score
- 59
In addition reaching a career milestone, Mookie Betts is starting to look like Mookie Betts again. The Los Angeles Dodgers star hit his 300th career homer on Wednesday, the 169th player to join that club, while helping the Dodgers notch a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins.
Betts struck in the second inning, punishing a high fastball from Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan on a full count to make it 1-0 Dodgers. He finished the game 3-for-4 with the homer plus a double.
"It just means I'm old," Betts joked after the game. "I've been here a long time. I guess it comes with the territory. I've been pretty good and I just got to keep helping the boys win."
He also had a defensive gem to save a run and possibly more in the fourth inning, snagging a ball up the middle and making a difficult throw with two outs and runners on second and third.
By offensive numbers, 2026 has so far been the worst season of Betts' career, with a .666 OPS entering Wednesday. He has seen an uptick recently, though, slashing .378/.417/.644 in his past 11 games. It remains to be seen if that's Betts re-finding his form or just having a good couple weeks, but the Dodgers will take it for now.
While both this season and last haven't quite been up to Betts' All-Star standards on offense, he has still given the Dodgers value as one of the better defensive shortstops in MLB, which is an achievement in itself for a player who basically picked up the position in his 30s.
"Mookie played a complete ball game. He's played the heck out of shortstop all year and hits are starting to fall," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game. "Even when he's been scuffling, the defense hasn't wavered. He's helping us win a lot of baseball games."
Betts might not be the only Dodger to reach the threshold this week, as Shohei Ohtani — Wednesday's starting pitcher — sits at 297.
Continue reading...
Betts struck in the second inning, punishing a high fastball from Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan on a full count to make it 1-0 Dodgers. He finished the game 3-for-4 with the homer plus a double.
"It just means I'm old," Betts joked after the game. "I've been here a long time. I guess it comes with the territory. I've been pretty good and I just got to keep helping the boys win."
He also had a defensive gem to save a run and possibly more in the fourth inning, snagging a ball up the middle and making a difficult throw with two outs and runners on second and third.
By offensive numbers, 2026 has so far been the worst season of Betts' career, with a .666 OPS entering Wednesday. He has seen an uptick recently, though, slashing .378/.417/.644 in his past 11 games. It remains to be seen if that's Betts re-finding his form or just having a good couple weeks, but the Dodgers will take it for now.
While both this season and last haven't quite been up to Betts' All-Star standards on offense, he has still given the Dodgers value as one of the better defensive shortstops in MLB, which is an achievement in itself for a player who basically picked up the position in his 30s.
"Mookie played a complete ball game. He's played the heck out of shortstop all year and hits are starting to fall," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game. "Even when he's been scuffling, the defense hasn't wavered. He's helping us win a lot of baseball games."
Betts might not be the only Dodger to reach the threshold this week, as Shohei Ohtani — Wednesday's starting pitcher — sits at 297.
Continue reading...
