If the Los Angeles Dodgers don’t repeat as World Series champs, it won’t solely be Mookie Betts‘ fault. But the embattled Dodgers infielder knows his struggles at the plate will have had a huge hand in their loss.
Betts opened up about his horrible postseason slump that has continued into the World Series after he and the Dodgers lost 6-1 to the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 5 and sent LA to the brink of elimination.
The Dodgers, who defeated the New York Yankees in five games in the 2024 World Series and expected to roll Toronto again after going 9-1 to start the postseason, trail 3-2 in the best-of-7 series. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will get the ball in Game 6 on Friday night at Rogers Centre.
Mookie Betts’ Struggles Are Hurting The Dodgers More Than Anyone Else
You can’t take Betts out of the Dodgers lineup the way manager Dave Roberts was available to sub outfielder Andy Pages for Alex Call in Game 5.
Betts plays the most important position on the field, shortstop. Plus, you simply don’t remove a former MVP and seven-time Silver Slugger at the most important time of the season, just in case he somehow turns it on at the most opportune time.
But Betts has been down bad for most of 2025 — even though his late-season hot streak put him with the identical 4.8 regular-season bWAR as he had in 2024. But his power has been sapped in October — he doesn’t have a home run and has just five extra-base hits in 72 plate appearances, resulting in an un-Bettsian .648 OPS through 15 games.
âI donât want to speak on anybody else,â Betts said. âBut for myself, Iâve just been terrible.â
Betts is just 3 for 23 in the World Series with three singles and three walks, which resulted in a minus-13.83 championship-win-probability added, the worst of any Dodgers player.
Roberts himself thinks the ultra-prideful Betts is trying too hard to make things happen in the World Series — especially after superstar Shohei Ohtani was walked five times in front of him in Game 3, and he finished 1 for 8 while going 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position and committing a fielding error.
“I think he’s pressing,” Roberts said after Game 5. “Hopefully, the off day, find a way to get away from it, and then go out there and just kind of focus on one game and be good for one game, go out there and compete.
“I think you can see, you know, there’s a little anxiousness in there. But it’s not the first time he’s struggled, it’s not the first time he’s faced elimination, and it’s not just Mookie, it’s everyone that’s
got to do their part too.”
Meanwhile, Betts hinted that he might be injured.
âI wish it were from lack of effort,â Betts said. âBut itâs not. I mean, thatâs all I can say.â
Dave Roberts Isn’t Sure If Mookie Betts Will Hit Third In Game 6
The beauty about baseball is there’s always tomorrow for a player to redeem himself, and that’s true for Betts since the Dodgers still have at least one more game to play.
When asked, Roberts said he wasn’t sure if Betts will move back to his customary No. 2 hole or stay third, where he went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in Game 5.
“I haven’t really had time to think through it,” Roberts said. “It’s kind of whatever I feel is best to take down Gausman. So I’m not sure if it’s Mookie in the 2, Mookie in the 3, Freddie in the 3. I’m not sure. But at the end of the day, regardless of who we run out there or what construct, we still got to take good at-bats, all of us.”
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