Mookie Betts is trying to fix his offense without giving up the value he still brings at shortstop, and the Dodgers have to decide whether that is enough to keep him where he is in the order. The 33-year-old was in the middle of a road trip, with Los Angeles playing a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates before heading to a three-game interleague set against the Chicago White Sox.
Betts entered the stretch with a.614 OPS and a 71 OPS+ through his first 133 plate appearances, numbers far from what the Dodgers have come to expect from one of the most complete players of his generation. Los Angeles still was 18 games over.500 and led the Arizona Diamondbacks by 7 1/2 games in the NL West, so the slump has not derailed the club’s season, but it has made his spot in the lineup a live question.
Betts described the adjustment as a process, saying he is trying to keep up with the times. He added that a lot of the things he once did naturally no longer work, and that he has to find new ones, which takes time, effort and patience. Those comments landed in mid-May, after a start that made clear this was not a short-term dip but a search for something new in his game.
That search matters because Betts is not being asked to carry the Dodgers with the bat alone. Last season, he was worth 3.4 WAR by FanGraphs and 4.9 by Baseball Reference, and even now his defense at shortstop gives Los Angeles a high floor while the offense sorts itself out. The club has been hopeful he can get back to superstar form, but the glove means he can still help the team even if the bat never fully catches up.
The complication is that the cleanup spot is supposed to do more than offer hope. Andy Pages was already hitting second, and the Dodgers did not have another healthy right-handed hitter they were eager to use in the fourth spot, which leaves the lineup with limited easy answers. Betts has already shown he can return after a month-long oblique absence and still be central to the team’s plans, but this is a different test: whether the Dodgers value the steadiness of his defense enough to live with the offense for now, or whether Dave Roberts eventually reshuffles the order in search of more production.
For the moment, the Dodgers can afford patience because the standings are solid and Betts remains too valuable to move lightly. The next decision is less about whether he belongs in the lineup than whether the cleanup role is still the best place for him while he keeps looking for a swing that feels like his again.
