Dodgers Team News

Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Compares Mookie Betts to Greatest Leadoff Hitter of All Time

Mookie Betts stole the show in the Dodgers’ 8-4 Friday night win over the Yankees, going 4-for-4 with two home runs, three runs batted in, a stolen base and a walk.

Betts had a perfect all-around game for the Dodgers, and jumpstarted the eight-run outburst with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning, the 41st of his career.



Betts raised his slash line to .266/.371/.551 with 15 home runs and 36 runs batted in on the year, to go along with his 14 doubles, 35 walks and 45 runs. His 15 home runs rank fifth in the National League, while his 45 runs rank fourth and his .922 OPS ranks tied-for-fifth.

After Friday’s game — Betts’ second straight with two home runs — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had tons of praise for his superstar leadoff hitter.

“It’s the modern-day Rickey Henderson,” Roberts said. “He’s instant offense. … Guys feed off that.”

For those who don’t know, Rickey Henderson is the greatest leadoff hitter in MLB history. He has the most leadoff home runs of all time with 81, and was pretty much instant offense due to his ability to get on base, steal bases and score runs.

While Betts is not at the same level as Henderson in those areas, he does have all the same abilities that made Henderson so special.

Betts is great at getting on base, sporting an on-base percentage of at least .340 in every year of his career. He has the capabilities to steal bases, although he doesn’t do it as much as he used to — he has just three this season but stole as many as 30 bases in 2018. And finally, he scores a ton of runs, leading the Major Leagues in runs scored twice in his career, and leading the National League last year with 117 (tied with his teammate, Freddie Freeman).

Betts is one of the most talented players in baseball, and shows it every single night. Whether he’s hitting a leadoff home run, taking the extra base on a hit, throwing a cannon from right field or making a difficult play look routine at shortstop, Betts truly excels at everything he does on a baseball diamond.

He wasn’t so sure about the Henderson comparison, though.

“It’s a super cool comparison,” Betts said. “But Rickey is a different breed.”

Fabian Ardaya, The Athletic

We’re never going to see someone as dominant as Rickey Henderson again, but Dave Roberts is right — Mookie Betts is probably as close as we’re going to get.

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Noah Camras

Noah is an Editor for Dodgers Nation. He graduated from USC in 2022 with a B.A. in Journalism and minor in Sports Media Studies. He's been a Dodger fan his whole life, and his all-time favorite Dodgers are Matt Kemp and Russell Martin.

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