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Season Review 2020: Mookie Betts
updated 3 years, 4 months ago
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Mookie Betts became a Dodger in 2020, and he’s going to be one for the rest of his career. After Andrew Friedman traded Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs, and Connor Wong for Mookie Betts and David Price, he was able to extend Mookie to a 12-year $365 million contract the day before Opening Day. Mookie hadn’t even played in a regular-season game for the Dodgers yet, but he decided he wanted to spend the rest of his career in Los Angeles.Mookie Betts can do it all, and even in a 60-game season, he found a way to impress you in every aspect of the game. From his hitting tools to his awareness on the basepaths, there’s no argument he’s one of the best in the game. He won yet another Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award and finished second in MVP voting to the Braves Freddie Freeman.
In 55 games this season, Betts slashed .292/.366/.562 with a .927 OPS. He had 9 doubles, 1 triple, 16 home runs, 39 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. Playoff games aside there’s one game that sticks out when I think of Mookie’s season at the plate, and that was when he hit three home runs in one game against the Padres. Betts tied an MLB record that night, becoming only the third player in history to have six career three-homer games. He still has 12 more years to break that record.
What Mookie did at the plate this season was a lot of fun to watch, but what he did on the basepaths this year was one of the best times I’ve had watching the sport in recent memory. He went from first to third on ground balls hit to the outfield multiple times. When he steals bases, he makes it look easy. Like the game he stole three bases against the Padres. Or in the second game of the season against the Giants when the infield was playing in, and Turner hit one to the second baseman, somehow Mookie beat the throw home to slide under the tag. If Mookie reached base, he would do everything in his power to make sure he scored.
Mookie’s defense might be even more impressive, considering he has now won four Gold Glove Awards. He made a play in Arizona against the Diamondbacks where he threw Ketel Marte out trying to stretch a double into a triple from the corner of right field, and it was one of the best throws I’d ever seen. This play even received top honors for play of the year by MLB. He would run down balls in the gap to hold runners at first. Watching him in the outfield was always a show on its own. You always knew you were going to get elite defense out of him.
When it came to the playoffs, Mookie looked pretty similar to what he did in the regular season. In 18 games, he slashed .296/.378/.493 with a .871 OPS. He only hit two home runs, but one of those home runs helped seal the Dodgers World Series win. He had 8 doubles, 8 RBI, 10 walks, and 6 stolen bases. His stolen bases paid off more than once and helped the Dodgers extend their lead in some big moments. And of course, because he’s Mookie Betts, he made some incredible plays in the outfield as well. From the shoestring grab against the Braves to keep the Dodgers within two to robbing Freddie Freeman of a home run to keep the Dodgers within one in Game 7 of the NLCS.
Mookie Betts can do it all, and he’s going to be a Dodger for a very long time. He’ll be 28 in 2021, and he won’t be a free agent until 2032. Welcome to Los Angeles, Mookie.
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