Originally published by DodgerBlue.com
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been one of the best offenses in baseball this season, even though it hasn’t felt that like it at times because of the slumps from Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts at various points.
However, the team’s success recently has seen each of their three MVPs turn a corner. With all three producing at a high level as of late, the Dodgers finished June with a 18-9 record and are 3-1 thus far in July. Perhaps more importantly, it marked the first time in a while that all three of the Dodgers’ MVPs were hitting well at the same time.
“I think the last six weeks Shohei’s been out of this world, I think Freddie’s been very consistent all year, and then now we got Mookie this last week on track,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on SportsNet LA. “So it has been the better part of the season that we haven’t had all three of those guys.
“You can see when those three guys are threats, it just kind of takes a lot of pressure off everybody else too.”
Ohtani and Freeman were the first to break out of their respective slumps, and it was this pair that helped power the Dodgers early on.
Ohtani batted .289/.397/.495 with 11 extra-base hits and 18 RBI in May. He then was even better in June, hitting .333/.435/.656 three doubles, a triple, eight home runs and 19 RBI.
Freeman’s two-month stretch has been nearly identical to Ohtani’s. The 36-year-old hit .287/.397/.532 with eight doubles, five home runs and 14 RBI in May. He finished June batting .337/.425/.548 with seven doubles, five homers and 17 RBI.
As for Betts, he has broken out of his season-long slump over the past few weeks. Entering play Sunday, Betts is bastting .349/.397/.619 to go along with four home runs over his last 15 games, along with 11 RBI.
All in all, it is a great sign for the Dodgers going forward, and the best part is they are far from full strength. Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Edwin Díaz are just a few of the names who will hopefully be active contributors by the time October rolls around.
Dodgers All-Stars
Ohtani led all players in voting en route to earning the starting designated hitter spot on the National League team for the 2026 MLB All-Star Game.
He’s going to be accompanied in the lineup by Freeman, who is now a 10-time All-Star. Max Muncy and Andy Pages were voted All-Star Game starters as well, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto was named to the NL pitching staff.
Betts fell short in fan voting and was not included among the NL reserves, much to Roberts’ chagrin.
If you love our reporting, choose DodgerBlue.com as a preferred source on Google.