I showed up a bit late to my first Dodger game, thanks to the abysmal traffic that clogs up Stadium Way on game days. As I walked to the entrance, I heard the crowd roar. I pulled out my phone and checked the score, and of course, Mookie Betts had led the game off with a home run.
The race for the Most Valuable Player award in the National League has been a tight one, although Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. is an overwhelming favorite according to sportsbooks.
While Acuna has had a historic season, becoming just the fifth player to reach 40 stolen bases and 40 home runs in the same season (Acuna has 68 stolen bases), Dodgers outfielder and occasional second basemen Mookie Betts has done everything to make his case for his second MVP award, having won the AL MVP in 2018 with the Red Sox.
Betts ranks in the top ten of the following categories: batting average (.309, eighth in MLB), home runs (39, sixth in MLB), RBIs (105, t-fifth in MLB), OPS (1.003, fourth in MLB), doubles (40, fourth in MLB) among others. He has shown his ability to play multiple positions and remain an elite defender. And on Saturday, Betts continued to show his unique ability to dominate out of the leadoff spot.
Betts now has the most RBIs out of the leadoff spot in a single season with 105, continuing his stellar career-long performance hitting at the top of the order.
The 30-year-old just needs one more home run to set the record for the most homers from the leadoff spot in a single season, furthering the argument that Betts deserves a significant argument in the NL MVP conversation.
“It seems like every night we’re eclipsing milestones as individuals. Mookie’s season is near unprecedented,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
(Via SportsNet LA)
And he has eight more games to add to his unprecedented season.
Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
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