Mookie Betts offered a new perspective Tuesday afternoon on his season-long slump, which is that it wasn’t a season-long slump.
In his view, it actually extended to last season.
“I really haven’t been right since I came back from my hand last year,” Betts said.
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Betts fractured his left hand in mid-June last season when he was struck by a 98-mph fastball. He was sidelined for almost two months.
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts stares down at his batting gloves after flying out in the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Dodger Stadium on July 22. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
“Think about it,” Betts said. “Go and look at it. I haven’t been right since.”
Betts was an MVP candidate when he went down, hitting .304 at the time. He batted .263 after his return, including .185 over the final 17 games of the regular season.
The troubles from last year have carried into this year, in which he’s batting a career-worst .236.
Betts wanted to clarify the point he was trying to make.
Read more: Max Muncy is back with four RBIs in Dodgers’ rout of Cardinals
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“I wasn’t blaming it on my hand or anything,” he said. “I was just saying since coming back, I haven’t done anything. It’s not just this season.”
Betts even went out of his way to downplay the severity of the injury or how it has affected him since.
“It wasn’t like I obliterated my hand,” he said. “It was a fracture.”
Betts pointed to how his grip strength was measured in spring training. The readings showed his grip was stronger than he was the previous year.
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts makes a play during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 4. (Luke Johnson/Los Angeles Times)
“There’s no correlation to anything,” he said. “I wish I could blame it on something, but nah.”
My visit to Dodger Stadium on Tuesday was prompted by what Betts told reporters after a weekend series in Tampa. The remarks in question were made when Betts was hitless in his last four games; the streak extended to a career-high five after another hitless game on Monday against the St. Louis Cardinals.
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“I’ve done everything I can possibly do,” Betts told reporters. “It’s up to God at this point.”
In print, at least, he sounded defeated. His quotes, I told him, were depressing.
“I don’t know if you’re watching what’s going on, but it is depressing,” Betts said with a smile.
So he still had a sense of humor.
Which…