Mookie Betts felt he was on point during the sixth inning on Tuesday night.
The Rays’ pitcher, Drew Rasmussen, threw a first-pitch cutter that Betts connected with, sending it off his bat at an impressive 161.3 mph. As per MLB’s Baseball Savant, it was a line drive with an expected batting average of .640—meaning over 60% of similar hits would typically result in a hit.
But, as it turned out, this wasn’t one of those cases.
As Betts left the batter’s box, he saw Taylor Walls of the Rays snag the lineout at shortstop.
“I just have to live with it,” Betts reflected the following day. “Living with it isn’t great, but what can you do?”
This has been the recurring theme for Betts this season, as the former MVP struggles to match his usual offensive output.
At 33, he’s hitting just .203 in 40 games, having missed over a month due to an oblique strain in April. That’s a significant drop—85 points below his career average and 55 points less than his worst season, which was .258 in 2025.
Interestingly, the quality of his contact suggests he should be doing much better.
Baseball Savant shows that Betts’ expected batting average entering Wednesday’s game was .269. The 66-point gap between his actual and expected averages is the largest discrepancy in MLB right now.
In essence, he could be considered one of the unluckiest hitters currently.
Betts knows this well and has been made aware of it through the Dodgers’ hitting staff, who have been working with him to improve his game.
“My coaches really help me stay optimistic, and I genuinely appreciate that,” he mentioned in a conversation with a California publication.
Yet, he acknowledged that these expected stats might seem “unrealistic.”
“I want to hit the ball as hard as possible, and when I do get a hit, I want it to matter. It’s about having strength and getting the right angles,” he explained. “But winning the game is the priority, so I sometimes have to settle for less.”
Betts believes that there are good reasons for his misfortune.
He often feels that he has “interrupted his swing” and hasn’t been able to finish it properly. This led to several hard hits, but not enough that made a significant impact.
“I don’t necessarily want to hit it in the air,” he said. “I just want to get the ball moving.”
This season marks the first time he’s delving deeply into his swing mechanics, focusing intently on body positioning, swing angles, and the contact point on the bat with each hit.
It’s a mentally demanding task, but he’s hopeful it will help align his actual stats closer to what is expected.
“I’ve never had to think about so many details before,” Betts expressed. “Usually, I just rely on my natural talent to figure things out. But right now, if I’m not perfect—if I’m not in the right position—I have very little chance.”
Given Betts’ extensive experience—he’s been in the league for 13 years—it’s no shock that he’s encountering these issues. He’s always been smaller and has struggled with bat speed, a factor that becomes even more critical as he ages. Injuries this year and last year’s full-time transition to shortstop have added complexity to the situation. While he continues to shine defensively, an error last week thwarted Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s bid for a perfect game.
Betts has showcased flashes of his former power. Just last weekend, he notched five hits, including his seventh home run against the White Sox in Chicago.
However, that moment wasn’t the turning point. In this week’s series against the Rays, he went just 2-for-11 and witnessed several hard-hit balls become outs, including that lineout on Tuesday.
“He’s still seeking,” noted manager Dave Roberts. “It seems like he’s been searching all year without finding the right answer.”
Betts recently expressed optimism about finding solutions. On Wednesday, he shared that he’s making mechanical changes to simplify his swing, believing he should focus more on “attacking” the ball at the right angle.
“It feels disconnected from reality,” he noted. “In the majors, a ground ball is just an out.”
Yet, the outs keep stacking up. His batting average remains at a record low.
As time goes on, it starts feeling like it’s more than just bad luck.
“The analytics suggest that I should have a .400 batting average on some of the hits I’m making, but they still end as lineouts,” he added. “That’s the analytics. But at the end of the day, my focus is on winning.”
If the Dodgers aim to continue their winning streak at the current fantastic pace, they’ll need Betts’ actual stats to align with what the numbers suggest they should be.
