Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts is out of the lineup on Saturday night, just one day after the second half of the season started following the All-Star break.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he decided to sit Betts on Saturday because he wanted him to “just watch a baseball game.”
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Betts has been mired in a career-worst slump, and Roberts said he noticed the shortstop has been frustrated. The Dodgers skipper is hoping this helps Betts break out of the struggles. It will probably be just a one-day thing, but Roberts will take it day by day.
“It’s going to be a day-to-day thing,” Roberts said. “It’s going to be my decision on how I feel he is mentally to take on that night’s starter.”
Betts has just a .178 batting average in his last 30 games. His OPS is an abysmal .506 as he only collected 12 RBIs and a pair of home runs during this time.
Roberts spoke further on wanting his superstar to take time to fully see the game and clear his head, while also noting Betts is continuing to put in the work to break out of this.
“He was more than willing and wanted to be out there. But for me, I wanted to take it out of his hands [so he could] have a day. I’ve talked about this before, just having players watch a baseball game. And I understand we just had four days off at the break. But still showing up at the ballpark, and not participating, watching, that’s a different mindset, psyche than being at home. So for him to come here, show up, not play, know he’s not going to play, I feel good about the work he’s going to put in today. Also, I think, for the mind it will be beneficial.”
Betts is still one of the best in the game in terms of his low strikeout percentage of 11.1 percent (good for the 96th percentile in the majors), and is an above-average shortstop with his Outs Above Average ranking in the 85th percentile among active defenders.
His average exit velocity when he makes contact has dropped drastically to 88.5 mph, putting him in the 29th percentile of hitters. For reference, Betts ranked in the 94th percentile in this category in 2023, and still hit above league average in the 64th percentile in this stat last season.
Hopefully, the day off proves valuable for Betts and the superstar can continue the production that Dodgers fans are used to seeing from him.
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Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
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One Response
Here is an idea. Mookie moves back to right field. Roberts should had never let him play shortstop. I do think there is a correlation on Mookie playing shortstop and his slump. Also Roberts let him come back way to early when he had a virus early on before the season started.