CJ Garcia
Since becoming a Dodger, Mookie Betts has remained one of the best players in baseball. Mookie has truly done everything from playing a Gold Glove right field to moving to second base and is now slated to become the 2025 Opening Day shortstop. In his now five seasons as a Dodger, Mookie has adjusted his offensive profile a few times, but that has yet to affect his output.
For the first time in his career, Mookie Betts walked more than he had struck out in 2024. Despite missing eight weeks after suffering a broken hand on June 16th, Mookie put up a 4.4 fWAR season ( in only 116 games!!) and posted a career-best strikeout percentage (11.0%).
The most impressive part of Mookie’s 2024 season was that he walked (11.8%) more than he struck out (11.0%). All in all, Mookie slashed .289/.372/.491 and 141 wRC+ in 116 games. Mookie struggled in June, hitting only .208 before breaking his hand on June 17th, and finished the year hitting .264 in his return from the injured list.
Mookie also became a bit more aggressive at the plate, with his first-pitch swing rate increasing by 3.8% while also, as a result, increasing his out-of-zone swing rate by 4.5%. This aggressiveness at the plate catapulted him into his excellent October.
Mookie’s contact rate was interesting this year, having a Squared Up% at 35.8 (99th percentile), but also posting the lowest Barrel% of his Dodger career (6.0%) and the 2nd lowest Hard Hit% of his career (39.3%). The low Barrel% and Hard Hit% could very well be the lingering effects of the broken hand or perhaps a new approach, but only time will tell.
A narrative that followed Mookie since the 2021 NLCS was his playoff struggles and being labeled a “choker.” Mookie always seemed to let pitches go by in the postseasons since 2021 and was perhaps being a little too selective to a fault.
In the 2024 postseason, Mookie slashed .290/.387/.565, 152 wRC+, and driving in 16 runs, doubling his previous postseason career high. Mookie stopped looking for the perfect pitch and began attacking pitches early in the count, leading to his career-best postseason.
He seemed to focus on not trying to do too much and stayed within himself, which was apparent by his sac flies and soft to medium-contact hits with RISP. If you have paid close attention to Dodger postseason baseball, the difference between Mookie Betts’s performance in the 2021 NLCS and 2023 NLDS and the 2024 postseason was clear.
Since the 2020 season, we have seen many different versions of Mookie Betts on the offensive side of things, but he has remained above 130 wRC+ every year since becoming a Dodger.
Having a front-row seat to the evolution of a Hall of Fame talent in Mookie Betts has been a treat, and he will keep in this roll for the foreseeable future. I think these changes to his profile show that he’s capable of adjusting to the rapidly changing league, which help him until his contract ends in 2032. It would be hard to beat out Shohei Ohtani for an MVP, but never count out Mookie Betts.
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