“He’s the greatest show on Earth, but we stopped paying attention” - MLB analyst hails Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts as league’s best player
Mookie Betts has rebounded this season. The Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder had a poor 2021 season relative to his 2019 campaign and his previous years with the Boston Red Sox. Last season, Betts could only manage a .264 batting average and 58 runs batted in.
Compare those numbers to his previous years, and you'll notice a stark difference. In 2019, he hit .292. In 2018, he batted an MLB-best .346 with a slugging average of .640 over 136 games. His on-base plus slugging percentage was 1.078 and he scored 129 runs. He easily won the American League's Most Valuable Player award.
Last season, fans were torn over Mookie Betts. Some said he was just going through a long slump. Others wrote off his stardom as a thing of the past. This year, he's proving them all wrong.
MLB analyst Bob Nightengale hails Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts as league’s best player
Betts is putting together a season worthy of MVP voters' attention. Over his first 176 at bats, the 29-year-old has mashed 53 hits, 14 of which are home runs, and 32 RBIs. He's also stolen four bases and put together an impressive 2.9 wins-above-replacement total, one of the league's best. His .301 average and .602 slugging percentage looks like a throwback to his last two seasons with the Red Sox. He also holds a monster .991 OPS.
Despite all that, Betts still doesn't get the attention he deserves. Playing on a star-studded Dodgers roster doesn't help. Every day he has to compete with stars like Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner for attention. Betts is receiving so little attention that MLB analyst Bob Nightengale went so far as to write that we've "stopped paying attention" to him.
"He’s the greatest show on Earth," wrote Nightengale, "but we stopped paying attention."
Sunday Notebook: Mookie Betts says he's 'just an average guy', but the reality is that he is the best player in the game. usatoday.com/story/sports/m…
"Sunday Notebook: Mookie Betts says he's 'just an average guy', but the reality is that he is the best player in the game." - @ Bob Nightengale
Betts calls himself "just an average guy," but you'd have to be pretty naive to believe him. On a team hailed as one of the MLB's best ever, Betts is managing to set himself apart.
"He may be the finest all-around player in the game, but we rarely talk about him," said Nightengale. "No one in baseball is having a more spectacular May, but we don’t seem to care. We’re talking about Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts."
Betts is breaking records. This season he became the first Dodger ever to score 30 runs in the month of May. He's making a run for the franchise record, too. If he scores three runs over the next three games, which is a likely possibility, he will break Babe Herman's record of 32 runs scored in May. Herman played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and set the record in 1930.
Mookie Betts has set the Los Angeles #Dodgers record for most runs in May with 30. Babe Herman (Brooklyn Dodgers) has the franchise record with 32 runs scored in May 1930. #AlwaysLA https://t.co/BLuPcMPN2J
"Betts has set the Los Angeles #Dodgers record for most runs in May with 30. Babe Herman (Brooklyn Dodgers) has the franchise record with 32 runs scored in May 1930. #AlwaysLA" - @ Sportskeeda Baseball
Mookie Betts is a living legend. Will we give him the attention he deserves?