Dodgers give Mookie Betts day off, maybe two, amid season-long slump: 'I've never been this bad for this long'

Yahoo

2 days ago

Mookie Betts won't play in the Los Angeles Dodgers' matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday amid an 0-for-12 slump and a season-long struggle for the eight-time All-Star.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters he made the decision after Betts went 0-for-4 and was visibly frustrated in Friday's 2-0 loss to the Brewers. Depending on how Betts appears to respond, he may get Sunday off as well.
"I don't know how long it's going to be. It could be one night, it could be two," Roberts told reporters, via Dodger Blue's Matthew Moreno. "My expectation is he's going to be back in there tomorrow."
"But for me, it's going to be a day-to-day thing," he continued, "and it's going to be my decision on how I feel he is mentally to take on that night's starter."
Milwaukee is scheduled to start All-Star Freddy Peralta (11-4, 2.66 ERA) on Saturday, followed by Jose Quintana (6-3, 2.28) on Sunday. Betts is 1-for-11 (.091) with a .455 OPS versus Peralta and .258 with a .755 OPS in 33 plate appearances against Quintana.
Betts is going through the worst season of his career, batting .241/.311/.377 in 395 plate appearances. He went into the All-Star break with a .696 OPS and went home to Nashville during his time off to work on his swing. This season was the first time in four years — eight years if you don't count 2020's COVID-shortened season — that he wasn't named to the All-Star Game.
One of Betts' biggest issues, demonstrated in Friday's loss, is that he's chasing pitches out of the zone more frequently in an effort to jumpstart his performance.
'Once you go down a rabbit hole — not a rabbit hole like I'm chasing something — but once you get down so far, up is so high that you just don't even care about it anymore," Betts told The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya. "Obviously, yes, I do want to play better. But where I was and where I am now, it's so night and day different.'
It's possible that playing shortstop has contributed to Betts' struggles. He's played the position full-time this season after beginning last season there before moving back to right field, where he's had his most success — including an MVP season for the Boston Red Sox in 2018.
However, the Dodgers apparently have no intention to move Betts off shortstop for the remainder of the season. Roberts doesn't believe moving Betts out of the No. 2 spot in the batting order is a solution, either.
Betts' 2025 season has been a struggle since developing a stomach illness at the end of spring training that rendered him unable to keep food down and eventually caused him to lose 20 pounds. While he gained the weight and his health back, the effect it had on his swing is still lingering.
At his size, Betts' mechanics are extremely important in making contact and generating power. Those were thrown out of sync with his early-season illness.
'I've never done this,' Betts said to Ardaya. 'It's all new. I've never been this bad for this long.'