Mookie Betts Proving Why He Should Be NL MVP Favorite
By Cem Yolbulan
He may be overshadowed by the arrival of phenom Shohei Ohtani but the Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts is still making his case to be the best player in baseball. Now in his fifth season in Los Angeles, Betts may be old news for some but the current heater he is on suggests that he is as good as ever.
On Saturday night's loss against the St. Louis Cardinals, the 31-year-old now-shortstop hit his fourth home run in four games. He currently has more homers this season than missed swings (3).
Mookie Betts has homered in 4 straight games! pic.twitter.com/lEcfkFK71o
— MLB (@MLB) March 31, 2024
To put Betts' start to the season into perspective, no other player not named Babe Ruth has accomplished what Betts is doing this year.
Since RBI became official, 2 MLB players have had a 4-game span with:
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) March 31, 2024
9+ hits
9+ RBI
6+ walks
4+ HR
.600+ BA
One is the @Dodgers' Mookie Betts over his last 4 games. The other was Babe Ruth from July 28-31, 1932. pic.twitter.com/YP4xyMmlN0
This is obviously a very small sample size. He is not going to sustain this level of batting for the rest of the year. Not only is he leading the league in every hitting stat so far, but he is also no. 1 in defensive runs saved right now with three.
Even when Betts regresses to the mean, he will continue to be one of the frontrunners to win the NL MVP this season. This would make him the second-ever player after Frank Robinson to win both AL and NL MVPs in history.
To accomplish this, Betts needs to beat out the current favorite Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves. The Venezuelan superstar and reigning NL MVP currently has the best odds (+500) to be the first back-to-back MVP since Albert Pujols in 2008-2009.
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