Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts heating up after slow start to spring training

Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts has put any concerns about his spring training struggles to rest with a scorching hitting streak.

The first seven games that Mookie Betts appeared in for the Boston Red Sox this spring ended without the star outfielder recording a hit. Seven games with a .000 batting average staring him in the face.

It’s the type of slump that could cause a mild panic throughout Red Sox Nation if it were to happen during a pennant race. If Betts went without a hit a week into the regular season we would act as if the sky was falling. The stakes aren’t quite as high during spring training. Actually, there are no stakes when the games don’t count. Yet concern was growing about what’s wrong with Mookie with each passing game he went without a hit.

We can stop worrying now. Betts collected his first hit of the spring on March 8 and he hasn’t stopped since. He entered Thursday riding an eight-game hitting streak. His last three games have been multi-hit performances.

Betts is 11 for his last 21 at the plate. That’s a blistering .524 average over that span. He’s also walked four times during this hitting streak, bringing his free pass total to eight this spring over 45 plate appearances. Sure, it’s a tiny sample size but that 17.7 BB% would put him in elite company if he posted that rate during the season. Only three major league hitters posted a better walk percentage last season.

Even when Betts was struggling it wasn’t due to an abundance of strikeouts. He did wear the sombrero with a three-strikeout game in his second appearance of the spring. Since then, Betts has totaled only three more strikeouts in 32 at-bats.

Only one of his hits has left the yard for a home run this spring but Betts has added four doubles.

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The hitting streak has left Betts with a .296/.422/.486 slash line this spring. That’s well above what he produced last year and reminiscent of his breakout 2016 season when he was the runner-up for the AL MVP.

Some may scoff at this production. It’s only spring training! The games don’t count and neither do the stats! All true and reasons to take spring results with a grain of salt. While we should reign in excitement over this hot streak, we shouldn’t brush it off as if it means nothing.

Betts needed a week’s worth of games to find his timing at the plate. That’s what spring training is for! About a week and nearly 300 batting average points later, it’s clear he’s found his swing.

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This hitting streak may not “count” in the grand scheme of things but at least it alleviates concerns that the cold spell he began the spring with might carry over into the regular season. We’re a week away from Opening Day and Betts appears to be in midseason form.