What’s Wrong With Mookie Betts?
It’s hard to say anything negative about Mookie Betts and his 2018 campaign. He’s a five-tool player who has a positive impact on the game whether he’s in the batter’s box, on the bases, or manning right field, something he does better than anyone else in baseball. As of August 26th, through 111 games, Betts posted a 7.6 fWAR thanks in most part to an absurd .335/.422/.628 slash line to go along with 27 HR (4 shy of his 2016 career high), 101 R, 64 RBI, and 25 SB.
I could go on and on about how great a player Betts is, but as a die-hard Red Sox fan who strives to catch every game every night, the Mookie Betts I’ve seen over the past ten days or so does not seem like he’s firing on all cylinders.
The still-absurd slash line that Betts boasts was even more impressive as of August 10th when it looked like this: .356/.443/.684. Betts had a wRC+ of 198 at the time which has shrunk now to 178. Furthermore, Betts has missed a couple of games and DH’d over the past two weeks, something which we haven’t seen all year. Today he was pulled before his final at-bat
With Betts out of the lineup the Red Sox look like a completely different team. The depth of the lineup is compromised. The back end is already a little weak as the production from second base and catcher have been very poor all year, but losing Betts shifts the heart of their lineup forward, making the end even less imposing. And as much as I love J.D. Martinez and Steve Pearce, the Red Sox defense suffers noticeably without Betts in right field.
The chart above shows Betts’ 10 game rolling OPS. There have been some peaks and valleys throughout the season, most notably the stretch from July 10th to August 15th, but right now looks like Betts worst stretch all season.
I look at the aforementioned stretch through July and August and optimistically hope that Betts is just in a mini slump and will be back to MVP caliber play in no time. The pessimist in me looks at this recent performance along with his recent absences in right field and wonders if Betts is dealing with some sort of physical ailment. Even if its minor enough that it doesn’t require him to miss anytime we saw last year what minor wrist/hand injuries did to the Red Sox lineup as Betts and Xander Bogaerts underwhelmed offensively while playing through pain. Most people point to the arrival of JD Martinez as the reason why the Red Sox offense is so much better this year than last, but the production from the healthy Betts and Bogaerts cannot be understated.
Whether or not Betts is actually playing through something right now- and presumably for the rest of the season- could be the deciding factor in whether or not the Red Sox win a World Series Title or get swept by the Indians in the ALDS because they can’t touch Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, and Carlos Carrasco.
-John Madsen
