Getty Mookie Betts
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the betting favorites to win the 2024 World Series, according to FanDuel, and they’re coming off a series win on the road against the American League favorite New York Yankees. It’s safe to say the vibes are good in LA, and Mookie Betts is at the center of it all.
Betts’ fellow Major Leaguers voted him the guy they’d most like to have on their team, regardless of stats, according to The Athletic. The outlet asked players surveyed to go solely on vibes and not to choose someone they were already friends with.
It came in The Athletic’s MLB Player Poll 2024. Surveyors interviewed more than 100 players, split evenly between the American and National leagues and spanning 18 teams. The Athletic granted players anonymity to get their unfiltered takes.
Betts won the vibes vote, earning 12.6% of responses — exactly double the votes cast for second-place finisher and teammate, Shohei Ohtani.
“He’s a really good player and he’s figured out how to get the most out of himself,” one NL outfielder said.
Another one of Betts’ teammates, Freddie Freeman, would not have been eligible to vote for him if surveyed, but his comments seem to back up the vibes vote. Speaking on his friend, Freeman called Betts “a wonderful human being” last Spring Training, according to Doug McKain of Dodgers Nation.
“It’s pretty special,” Freeman said. “When you see people that have the same aspirations not only in baseball but in life it’s why we hit it off. We were just drawn to each other. He’s a great baseball player.”
Mookie Betts Also Among the Best Players in Baseball
Betts’ name also appeared high on the list of best overall players in MLB, according to survey respondents. Ohtani took the title and an astounding 46% of the vote, with Ronald Acuna Jr. second at 26.5%. Betts and Aaron Judge tied for third at 8.8%.
As one player put it, “[Betts is] awesome to watch. He can do it all.”
Offensively at least, the numbers back that up. Betts has played in 66 out of the Dodgers’ 67 games as of June 10 and leads the NL in plate appearances (307). In that time, he has hit .309 with a .914 OPS and has accumulated 3.6 bWAR. Betts has also qualified for the last seven All-Star Games. At 31, he is currently pacing for the second-best on-base percentage of his career at .410.
Dave Roberts Has His Star’s Back
Though Betts seems to have snapped out his recent slump at the plate, his new role at shortstop has come with its own struggles. He has committed nine errors at short over 59 games, accounting for 22% of the errors he has made in his entire 10-year career.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” Betts told teammate Gavin Lux, according to a report from the AP.
As Betts continues extra infield work to ease the transition, his manager, Dave Roberts, came to his defense.
“I think his defense has been fine,” Roberts said, according to the LA Times. “It’s probably never going to be to his standards, and that’s what makes him great. Taking this on, it’s not going to be linear. He’s his harshest critic, so I expect him to be frustrated. But I’m pleased with him.”
Betts committed two errors in the Dodgers’ June 6 game against the Pirates, but those are the only errors he has committed in his past 14 games.