Mookie Betts was not in the lineup for Tuesday’s game as the Los Angeles Dodgers began their homestand with a matchup against the lowly Chicago White Sox.
Betts’ offensive statistics have dipped across the board in 2025, with career lows poised to be set in batting average (.249), on-base percentage (.327) and slugging (.380) if his current pace holds. Coming after the off day on Monday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts decided to give Betts an additional day to refocus and recuperate.
“Just a day off. To be quite honest, probably more of a mental day,” Roberts said. “I feel [Monday] was obviously a team off day, so to get back here, work on some things with his mechanics, watch a baseball game and be back in there tomorrow.”
The Dodgers possess the most prolific run-scoring offense in the Majors this season, but Betts has been contributing at a much lower rate than he has in the past. Betts’ current 99 wRC+ would be the lowest of his career and his first below 131 since 2017.
Betts is searching for answers at the plate, and Roberts hopes another day off can help jump-start an improvement.
“At times I see an uptick in at-bat quality and quality of contact, and then it sort of takes a downturn,” Roberts noted. “He’s in the middle of it. He’s trying to find some answers and some feels. So hopefully today is a day he can use to propel him through this homestand and beyond.
“Kind of like Freddie, I just haven’t seen Mookie have this expanded period of not feeling good.”
Swinging at pitches in the zone, making contact and avoiding strikeouts are three aspects of his game that Betts has executed well this season. But the issue has been the type and quality of the contact he’s making.
Betts is hitting line drives at a lower rate, his weak contact percentage has increased, while solid contact and barrels have decreased significantly. The last time Betts posted similar results in all three areas was in 2021 and 2022, which led to a decrease in levels of production.
But the issues have been more pronounced in 2025 compared to those other years, which is why Betts currently has collected fewer hits and his slugging is down.
Roberts has had a tough time pinpointing the source the struggles, but he has confidence that Betts can turn his season around.
“I don’t have an answer. It’s an interesting one, because I don’t think his misses are consistent,” Roberts said. “There’s more chase and then there’s some fly balls, some off the end of the bat, some ground balls. So I don’t know.
“I know the hitting guys are really working hard to try to figure out some answers. I do know he’s healthy. I think he’s stronger than he’s been in quite some time.
“He’s an easy guy to bet on in knowing he’s going to turn it around.”
Is playing shortstop hurting Mookie Betts’ hitting
The question of whether playing shortstop is negatively affecting Betts’ performance at the plate has been present since last season. It might have been more applicable in 2024 because of the amount of work it took to learn the new position on the fly, but it’s clear that Betts took advantage of his time in the offseason to address that problem.
While playing a physically demanding position may increase fatigue over the course of the season, it’s unlikely that Betts’ defensive preparation has a significant impact on his hitting ability.
“I just can’t see if you stick him in right field tonight, he’s going to throw out two hits or three hits. Or he goes to second base, and he’s going to go on a heater,” Roberts said. “That’s hard for me to imagine. It’s a fair ask, I just don’t see that as the case.”
Roberts has also said he trusts Betts when the 12-year veteran expresses that he can separate his defensive and offensive responsibilities.
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