The 2026 Los Angeles Dodgers don't have the same magic they did in the last two seasons. They're down 0-3 to the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS because their pitchers look human and their star hitters aren't performing due to injury or otherwise.
Among those underperforming hitters is longtime Boston Red Sox superstar Mookie Betts. The shortstop is slashing .231/.355/.231 through seven playoff games with the Dodgers this season. His six hits have all been singles, he's taken an impressive five walks and scored one run.
Betts' performance has been a far cry from the pesky consistency and home run power fans have gotten used to seeing from the Dodgers. His struggles aren't new — the former MVP has regressed in the last two seasons to the point that his playoff showing so far hasn't been a shock.
Betts slashed .257/.326/.454 with 25 doubles and 23 home runs over 123 games in 2026 (he spent about a month on the injured list early in the season due to an oblique strain). Last year, following a brutal stomach illness before the season, Betts slashed .258/.326/.406 with 23 doubles, two triples and 20 homers over 150 games. Fans expected his offensive downturn to last one season, and while he found a bit more slug in 2026, they were mistaken.
Former Red Sox star Mookie Betts' offensive regression makes Dodgers contract look risky
In his first five seasons with the Dodgers, Betts batted .284/.372/.530. Regression is expected with age, but Betts only just turned 34. The decrease in his offensive production is sudden — in 2024, his hard hit rate took a nearly 10 percent decrease from the season before and hasn't recovered, and his barrel percentage and bat speed metrics have fluctuated in about the same time.
Betts is signed for five more years, through his age-39 season, at over $30 million per year. If he can't break out of the offensive slump he's shown in the last two years, that'll hardly be worth the money from the Dodgers' side (no baseball fan outside of California will be upset about that).
Betts is already a guaranteed Hall of Famer. He's an eight-time All-Star, former MVP, batting title winner and four-time World Series champion. He was on track to hit the 3000 hits mark before his recent offensive stall, but it's not a sure thing anymore.
The Red Sox's Betts trade is still a disaster and a bad optics move — Betts had too many good years with the Dodgers to give John Henry credit for anything, and he could bounce back, for all we know. But in the last two seasons, Betts hasn't been the All-Star the Dodgers got used to seeing. Playoff disappointment from Dodgers fans only amplifies his long slump.
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