Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts is having a crazy September at the plate, and he looks like someone who can carry the offense in the postseason.
Betts’ Crazy September
Betts is hitting .367 in September entering Friday, with 21 RBIs, six home runs, and nine doubles.
He has a 1.117 OPS and a 219 wRC+, both metrics highlighting just how elite he has been. It has been his best month of the season by far, and it is akin to his MVP bests.
He is walking 16% of plate appearances and striking out on just 8.5% of the time.
His approach at the plate looks great, with good swing decisions and a strong command of the strike zone that pushes pitchers to throw more challenging pitches than they would want.
When he does swing, he has 32 hard-hit balls this month, and the average exit velocity is 92.6 mph, the highest of the year thus far.
Why the Dodgers needed this production from Betts
To no one’s surprise, Betts was the team’s best hitter in September. His wRC+ is only rivaled by Josue De Paula, though his sample size was much smaller than Betts’.
Shohei Ohtani missed most of the month with a right-arm injury, while Andy Pages also missed the majority of the month, returning only in the last few days.
Additionally, Freddie Freeman and Tommy Edman have gone mostly cold, only further increasing the need for someone to step up.
Betts has been the guy to carry the offense, with 25 weighted runs created, according to FanGraphs, the most on the team, second to Teoscar Hernandez, who has 19.
With his emergence and Edman’s slump, Betts took over the leadoff spot until Ohtani returned, and his play has been so good that even after the Japanese superstar returned, manager Dave Roberts still has Betts lead off against lefties.
Can Betts keep this up in the postseason?
Betts has a track record of stepping up during the playoffs. In his first season with the Dodgers, he hit .296/.378/.493 with a 135 OPS+ through October, when the Dodgers won the World Series.
2021 was more of the same, hitting .319/.377/.404 with a 116 wRC+. 2022 and 2023 ended early for the Dodgers, and Betts struggled both years.
In 2024, when the Dodgers won one of their first consecutive titles, Betts was magical, hitting .290/.387/.585 with a 151 wRC+.
For most of the season, Betts wasn’t the Mookie fans expected, with league-average hitting and great defense at shortstop.
Starting in mid-August and into September, he flipped the script and left manager Dave Roberts impressed and surprised.
“I couldn’t tell you that I saw this [coming],” Roberts said. “But he’s got stronger. He’s worked hard on that … And just for it to come together has been great. It just doesn’t matter where you hit him, who he’s facing, [what’s] the situation –– he’s taking good at-bats.”
Betts, meanwhile, knew his former MVP-level production was still in him.
“I know I’m still capable of it,” Betts said. “I know it was in there somewhere.”
Heading into October, few hitters should make fans feel better.
His experience, along with his newfound production, should help him fit into the formula, alongside the quality starting pitching, that puts him and the 2026 Dodgers into MLB immortality.
