Betts is out of his summer doldrums. Over the last month and change, the Dodgers superstar has turned back into, well, a Dodgers superstar.
On Aug. 4, Betts was batting .231 with a .355 slugging percentage and .657 OPS. Extremely un-Mookie-like. But in the 32 games since — capped off by Wednesday night’s grand slam against the Rockies at Dodger Stadium — he’s batting .352 with a .578 slugging percentage and .978 OPS. He has seven home runs (four of them in September) and 26 RBIs. Much more Mookie-like.
The postseason is coming, and Betts is raking. Let’s take a look at Betts’ resurgence by the numbers.
Here are five key stats that define Betts’ hot streak.
1) He’s been a top-10 all-around hitter in baseball
Betts’ .987 OPS since Aug. 5 is MVP-level Betts. How do we know? Coincidentally, that’s the exact same OPS that Betts posted during the 2023 season, when he was the runner-up to Ronald Acuña Jr. for National League Most Valuable Player.
Of the 184 hitters with at least 100 plate appearances since Aug. 5, Betts ranks 10th in OPS, and he’s sixth best among National League hitters. And yes, Shohei Ohtani is even higher on the list. Shohei and Mookie are once again one of the most dangerous duos at the top of any MLB lineup.
Highest OPS since Aug. 5
Min. 100 PA
Betts hasn’t been this hot at the plate in a year and a half. It’s the perfect time.
Betts’ top-10 OPS mark is impressive, but just from a “getting hits” perspective, he’s been even better. His .352 batting average is top-five.
Highest BA since Aug. 5
Min. 100 PA
Betts’ 45 hits since Aug. 5 are the second-most hits in the Majors over that span, behind only Turner’s 51.
This is the former batting title winner we’re used to seeing.
Betts’ signature skill as a hitter has been his ability to blend contact and power hitting. When he’s at his best, he can do damage without striking out.
Over his past 32 games, Betts is slugging .578 with seven home runs, but he also boasts a minuscule 5.6% strikeout rate and 11.0% swing-and-miss rate.
Both of those marks are among the league’s lowest. But the difference between Betts and the other elite contact hitters is that Betts is outslugging them by a country mile.
The top five hitters in strikeout rate since Aug. 5, for example, are Luis Arraez, Nico Hoerner, Betts, Alex Bregman and Steven Kwan. But Betts has seven homers over that span … none of the others has more than two.
Lowest K% since Aug. 5
Min. 100 PA
Betts has more homers than the other four hitters combined. He has almost as many home runs since Aug. 5 (seven) as he does strikeouts (eight). That’s pretty good.
4) His quality of contact stats are even better than his actual stats
Betts’ .352 batting average and .578 slugging percentage over the last month-plus are fantastic. But his expected batting average and expected slugging percentage over that timeframe, which Statcast calculates from his quality of contact, are actually even higher.
Betts has a .361 xBA since Aug. 5. He has a .592 xSLG.
In fact, no one has a higher expected batting average than Mookie since he got hot. Betts’ xBA is over 30 points higher than the second-best hitter … which happens to be Ohtani.
Highest xBA in MLB since Aug. 5
Min. 100 PA
The reason Betts’ expected stats are so good is because he’s hitting tons of line drives. His 37.2% line drive rate since Aug. 5 is the highest in the Majors. Line drives are hits, especially when you hit them hard, which Betts is.
Over that time, no one has hit more balls in Statcast’s launch angle sweet-spot range of 8-32 degrees than Betts (58). And no one has more hard-hit balls (95-plus mph exit velocity) in the launch angle sweet-spot range than Betts (33).
5) Add it all up, and Betts has been a top-five player overall
Most WAR since Aug. 5
Per FanGraphs
Betts is even ahead of Ohtani. So while Betts’ 2025 season overall might not be an MVP-caliber season like Shohei’s, he’s still capable of being a top-five player for an extended stretch. And it’s good to see vintage Mookie Betts baseball, especially this close to October, when a peak-level Betts can carry a team to a World Series title.
