Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Compares Mookie Betts to First-Ballot Hall of Fame Player
Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts is having another great all-around season for LA, hitting .257/.362/.532 with 15 home runs, 36 runs batted in, 14 doubles and 36 walks.
He's also played a great right field, a great second base and a great shortstop for the first time in his career, truly doing it all for the Dodgers.
Add in the fact that he's hitting leadoff for the team every day and providing instant offense from that spot, and it's easy to see the impact he's making on this team.
As of Monday, Betts currently has a 2.6 fWAR, which ranks sixth in the entire league.
Over the weekend, after Betts' second consecutive multi-home run game and his second straight game with a leadoff home run, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked about his star player. He made a Hall of Fame comparison for the Dodgers leadoff hitter.
"It’s the modern-day Rickey Henderson. He’s instant offense," Roberts said. "Guys feed off that."
Rickey Henderson is the greatest leadoff hitter of all time, and was truly instant offense due to his ability to get on base, move around the bases and score runs. While we're never going to see another Henderson, Betts is probably the closest thing we're going to get.
Betts is truly instant offense for the Dodgers, as he has a knack for getting on base and is a great base runner, which leads to tons of runs scored at the top of the lineup.
While Betts is down on stolen bases this season, at his best, he stole 30 bases in 2018 during his MVP season. He also led the league in batting average, slugging percentage and runs scored that year, making it clear that he can impact the game all on his own.
This year, Betts is top 10 in the league in home runs and runs scored, and is doing it all from the top spot of the lineup.
