Originally published by DodgerBlue.com
The Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team to repeat as World Series champions in 25 years despite Mookie Betts enduring a down year at the plate by his standards.
The eight-time All-Star hit just .258/.326/.406 with 23 doubles, 20 home runs and 82 RBI in 150 games. He especially struggled during the first half of the season, as evidenced by a .696 on-base plus slugging in 391 plate appearances.
Betts began to look more like himself over the final few months of the regular season but again fell into an extended slump during the playoffs.
Some attributed Betts’ hitting woes to playing shortstop on a full-time basis for the first time in his career. The 33-year-old allocated a lot of time working on his craft and can now focus on turning things around offensively.
“I think so,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts answered when asked if he believes Betts will have a better season at the plate in 2026. “He certainly put a lot of time into shortstop and put in a lot of bandwidth. It certainly worked, because he was a lockdown shortstop for us.
“He had a tough offensive year. He’s human, but it’s easy to bet on a bounce-back year for Mookie on the offensive side.”
Even with his roughly league-average production as a hitter, Betts was nearly worth five wins above replacement this past season. If he can maintain his elite play at shortstop and get back on track offensively, Betts should return to being one of baseball’s most valuable players.
Mookie Betts remaining Dodgers shortstop
Roberts recently confirmed that Betts will remain the Dodgers’ starting shortstop next season, noting the strides he made at the position this year.
“He was right there in that Gold Glove race. I think the only person that could’ve felt he had that in him this year was Mookie,” Roberts said during the Winter Meetings. “Really proud of what Mookie did at shortstop.
“Even that last play in the World Series, he worked on that play a lot to not make that ball go arm side. On the run, fielded, runner bearing down on you, to then throw it on the run and throw a strike to Freddie, that’s just a little snippet of his growth.”
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