The weekend series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees did not lack for star power or former MVP winners, with Mookie Betts among those in the spotlight.
So too were the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Teoscar Hernández wound up hitting his way into headlines as the Dodgers took two of three games at Yankee Stadium.
The series was the Dodgers’ first time playing the Yankees in New York since 2016. The highly-anticipated matchup, deemed by many the “Battle in the Bronx,” was also billed as a potential 2024 World Series preview.
Betts acknowledged that the Yankees were an October barometer for the Dodgers but also noted they can’t overlook other teams, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“Yeah, sure,” Mookie Betts said when asked if the series was a good test run for what October will bring. “But there’s six months of that. You just can’t use the Yankees for that. You’ve got to use every team. Every team that you play against has got to be the same intensity. Got to be the same intent on getting the job done. Maybe for others, but for me it’s the same. I try and use every situation I get in the same.”
Betts added there are areas the Dodgers need to improve on, even with winning the series, and on a personal level he’s looking to have more success when hitting with runners in scoring position:
“We did alright,” Betts said, assessing the series. “There’s obviously a lot of things that we have to fix. I mean, situational hitting. I think that’s one of the main things. Just making sure (we’re) playing the game the right way, doing everything the right way because come postseason time we’re going to have to execute those things. I came up in a couple situations that I need to come through. I don’t know how to work on that, but sometimes you’ve just got to get stuff done.”
Batting with runners in scoring position was a point of weakness for Bets and the Dodgers in the postseason over the past two years. During the playoffs in 2022 and 2023, they went a combined 9-for-51 in such situations.
The team has regressed of late with those at-bats, and were 7-for-30 in three games against the Yankees. Overall at the plate, Betts had just three hits during the weekend, with one of those a two-run double that tied the game Sunday with two outs in the fifth inning.
Mookie Betts struggling at shortstop?
Along with Betts failing to have a multi-hit game during the Yankees series, there were more defensive struggles at shortstop.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Betts have maintained learning the position and physical demands that come with it have not negatively impacted him offensively. Roberts added he believes Betts will be the starting shortstop for the National League team in the 2024 MLB All-Star Game at Globe Life Field.
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