Mookie Monster

 

So Mookie Betts is still one of the best players in baseball. In case you thought something had changed.

The big stat right now with Betts is that he has 16 home runs, which is the highest in the NL, as well as being 6 dingers away from the 200 home run mark. He is also hitting .303 right now, and is working towards his first .300 season since he won the MVP in 2018. Betts is on track to have a career 57 WAR before he even turns 30, which is incredibly good. And all of this while he continues to be the centerpiece of a 1st place Dodgers team while his old club bobbles around fourth, and not quite around Alex Verdugo either.

It's really impressive how good Mookie Betts is once you really look at his stats. So far he's only finished one season with more than 100 strikeouts, he's led the league in total bases once and runs twice [and is leading the NL in both right now], and while he's proudly hanging onto an MVP, I still think he got robbed in 2020, and he very well could have won one in 2016 if it weren't for Mike Trout doing his usual thing. To have accomplished this much by 30 and to still be racking up achievements is truly impressive, and it's fantastic that we have somebody like Betts at the same time we have people like Mike Trout, Manny Machado, Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper all still in their prime.

As for the Dodgers themselves? Granted, they're only 2.5 games ahead of San Diego, and dropping games to Pittsburgh certainly doesn't help, but they're still in pretty good shape. I didn't think they'd be able to sustain the magic without Kershaw, but Tyler Anderson hasn't been giving up many runs at all, Tony Gonsolin is incredible this year, Buehler and Urias are strong as ever, and I suppose Mitch White is turning into a solid fifth option. The bullpen's high ERAs scare me, as does Kimbrel being a bit less consistent than Jansen. But, like, this is a solid team where lots of people can play all sorts of roles. Trea Turner is leading the team in RBIs, that's a nice career turn for him.

If Betts can lead this team to more playoff success, maybe another ring and another MVP, that'll be the icing on the cake. I hope this can all stay good for Betts, and the Dodgers.

Coming Tonight: For years, the Toronto Blue Jays catching position had been a two man race between two bad options. Then a third challenger appeared and won out.