It’s been 3 weeks since the first game of the regular season was played in Korea. A lot of fans were watching the game between the Dodgers and the Padres. There are so many stars between these 2 teams. While I was watching the Opening Series, I was chatting with some friends about Mookie Betts’ performance. Mookie Betts moved to shortstops in the 2024 season and by far, he’s hitting .380/.530/.780 with 5 home runs and 11 RBI over 14 games. He’s certainly one of the hottest hitters in the majors now. However, it’s just the beginning of the season and it’s still too early to tell if it’s a good season for him.
In 2023, Mookie Betts had been outstanding during the regular season, slashing .307/.408/.579 with 39 home runs and 107 RBI. Mookie Betts finished 2nd in the NL MVP voting. Nevertheless, in the postseason, Mookie Betts went hitless in 3 games. It was unusual to see him fail to collect a hit in 3 games and some people indicated that Betts’ slump came at the wrong time.
Well, going hitless in 3 games isn’t good and it’s even worse when this happens in the postseason. Nonetheless, during the regular season, there might be some signals which are worth looking at.
Looking back at Mookie Betts’ stats last season, at the beginning, he didn’t hit very well. In the first 27 games of the season, his batting average was .235 and his OPS was below .800. Nonetheless, he gradually heated up. In May, he blasted 9 home runs and his OPS was over .950. From June to August, Mookie was one of the most dangerous hitters in the majors because he finished each month with a batting average over .300 and an OPS over 1.000. In particular, last August, Mookie Betts slashed .455/.516/.839 with 11 home runs and 30 RBI over 28 games. Nevertheless, things changed in September. In the final 25 games of the regular season, Mookie Betts only blasted 1 home run and his batting average dropped significantly. Moreover, his OPS was only .718.
In addition, let’s take a look at xwOBA. At the beginning of the 2023 season, Mookie Betts didn’t hit very well against offspeed pitches. His batting average was only .143 and his xwOBA was .156. But, from May to August, he did make solid contact against most types of pitches. Nonetheless, a key thing worth watching is his xwOBA against offspeed pitches. In June, his xwOBA against offspeed pitches was over .400, but dropped to .292 in July. And, what’s more interesting, in September and October, Mookie’s xwOBA against fastballs and offspeed pitches did fall.
A baseball reason is a marathon. It’s common to see ups and downs during the regular season. Mookie Betts wasn’t outstanding at the beginning of the last season, but he gradually heated up and became one of the hottest hitters last summer. However, he did slow down a bit in the fall. Entering the 2024 season, Mookie Betts is now 31 years old. No doubt, Mookie is one of the best players in baseball, but it will be important to see that he would hit consistently during the season and avoid the same problem he faced last season.
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