PHILADELPHIA — When Mookie Betts hit .375 with a 1.061 OPS over a 17-game stretch in late June and into July, finally raising his season batting average over .200, there were proclamations that the “old Mookie” was back.
Betts made no such claims at the time, aware how quickly things can change in baseball.
And they have. Betts went into Monday’s game 4 for 38 (.105) over his previous 11 games. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled the lineup to face Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sanchez on Monday but he said one change will stick. Betts has been moved down to fifth in the order and will probably stay there “for awhile.”
“I think right now I feel that I want to give Mookie a different look,” Roberts said.
“About a month ago, yeah, we all felt that he turned the corner and then the last couple weeks, few weeks, it just hasn’t been there.”
Betts responded with four hits Monday (his first multi-hit game since July 2), including two home runs, his first since June 27.
Roberts has tried to recalibrate expectations for Betts’ offense by pointing out the production needed from a Gold Glove-level shortstop is not the same as a right fielder. But he acknowledged it’s “hard” to tell if this level of offense might just be the “new normal” for Betts at age 33.
“I don’t think it’s an easy answer in the sense of what the production is supposed to be,” Roberts said. “I just think that he’s better than what he’s showing. I do believe that. Do I have the expectations of when he was considerably younger, playing the outfield? No, I don’t. I think that’s an unfair expectation.
“I have a hard time really answering what my expectation is. I just know that he helps us win baseball games. He’s playing a premium position. I feel like hitting him fifth versus second, third or fourth, I still think takes a little bit of offensive strain, given the position he’s playing.”
If Betts feels any strain, it is from his own expectations. The idea that he might not be able to meet them because this is the player he will be at age 33 is in his own head as well.
“I think I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t ask that myself,” he said. “I don’t believe it. I feel like I’m in amazing shape, making plays, doing everything (on defense) – you can’t tell on one side of the ball. On the other, I don’t know, man.
“It happened when I broke my hand in ’24. Right before that I was on my way to winning MVP that year. I broke my hand and as I was coming back I know bat speed is something very important for me personally. I think I just developed some really bad habits in that time that I can’t shake. I’ve tried.
“I don’t think this is the new norm. In my heart I don’t believe that. I’m doing my damnedest to figure it out.”
Betts was batting .304 with an .892 OPS when he was hit by a pitch in June 2024 and fractured a bone in his left hand. Since he returned that August, he has endured a myriad of physical setbacks including a debilitating norovirus at the beginning of last season. And he has been a .251 hitter with a home run every 25.1 at-bats compared to 20.1 before. His bat speed has indeed diminished.
Once one of MLB’s best leadoff hitters, his spot in the lineup now doesn’t matter, Betts said.
“No. It’s the same,” he said of the latest move down. “I’ve just got to perform. I wouldn’t be in this situation if I was just performing. I’m working and doing everything I can. It doesn’t matter. With this lineup, guys are going to be on base. Whether I’m first or fifth or seventh, there’s going to be some leverage at-bats throughout the game. I’ve just got to figure out how to get it done.”
ADDED RELIEF
The Dodgers acquired right-hander Seth Halvorsen in a trade with the Colorado Rockies on Monday, sending minor-league right-hander Nick Frasso and Class-A outfielder Landyn Vidourek to the Rockies.
Halvorsen, 26, is currently on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. He started a rehab assignment in Triple-A over the weekend and will continue that with Oklahoma City now.
A seventh-round draft pick out of the University of Tennessee in 2023, Halvorsen made the big leagues a year later and posted a 1.46 ERA in 12 appearances with the Rockies, striking out 13 in 12⅓ innings.
A hard-thrower with a fastball that has averaged 99.6 mph in the major leagues, Halvorsen has not built on that early promise over the past two seasons, bouncing between the majors and minors. In 58⅔ innings since his rookie season, Halvorsen has struck out 53 but also given up 63 hits and walked 36.
“Just a big arm,” Roberts said.
“The arm talent’s there. Our guys are really excited about him.”
Frasso was once one of the Dodgers’ top pitching prospects, but he has been set back by injuries including shoulder surgery that cost him the entire 2024 season. Vidourek was the Dodgers’ third-round pick in last year’s draft but has hit just .176 this season.
ALSO
Edwin Diaz has made four appearances in the minors and could be nearing the end of his rehab assignment. Roberts said Diaz needs to pitch on back-to-back days as a final test before rejoining the Dodgers and he might do that Wednesday and Thursday. “There is a chance” Diaz could be activated by the Dodgers in time to face his former team, the New York Mets, this weekend at Citi Field, Roberts said.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (LHP Justin Wrobleski, 10-2, 2.69 ERA) at Phillies (RHP Zack Wheeler,10-1, 2.13 ERA), Tuesday, 3:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, TBS, 570 AM