Mookie Betts Doesn’t Care Where He Hits in Dodgers Lineup This Season

In 2023, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman combined to create one of the best leadoff duos in baseball. Then, the Dodgers added Shohei Ohtani to the mix. For the Angels, Ohtani generally batted second or third but occasionally did bat leadoff.

This led to the question, “What will the top three in the batting order look like?”

For Betts’ part, he does not care where he bats in the lineup. At Saturday’s DodgerFest, when asked about it, he said “whatever’s optimal for the team.”

In his 10-year major league career, Betts has been at his best when he’s batting leadoff, with a .915 OPS. That steadily goes down as he moves down in the lineup. However, he still has a career .807 OPS when batting third in the order.

Ohtani certainly has a case for hitting leadoff too. He has an .897 OPS from the leadoff slot in his MLB career, and his speed makes him a larger threat on the basepaths; he swiped 20 bags last year. However, Ohtani has had his most success (in a larger sample size) when batting second — a 1.013 OPS.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did say that the conversation is fluid. Speaking at DodgerFest last Saturday, he mentioned the top of the order might be different at the end of the year compared to the start.

Either way, the Dodgers have an amazing problem on their hands. They have to somehow find the best way to deploy three of the game’s best hitters.

Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

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