It started to look like Mookie Betts found his stride once again starting off the month of June, as he hit .400 over his first seven games. While the team as a whole has performed well since then, Betts, alongside Freddie Freeman, have underperformed at the top of the lineup.
Despite a two-hit effort in the Dodgers’ 9-7 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday, Betts is slashing just .184/.273/.245 with just three doubles and six RBI over his past 13 games. His slugging percentage hasn’t been above .400 since June 17, while his .257 batting average and .339 on-base percentage are identical to what they were after his first game in June.
Despite Betts’ struggles, Dave Roberts won’t be demoting him in the lineup, and he is confident in Betts’ ability to get his swing going right again, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.
“I think some of it is pitch selection,” Roberts said. “Some of it is mechanics where you just don’t know where the barrel is. But again, things with hitting can change in an at-bat. You take one at-bat and something clicks and this conversation is no longer. There’s a lot of different variables that lead to not consistently finding the barrel.”
On the other side of the lineup, Michael Conforto has looked good in his past two games, collecting two extra-base hits including a go-ahead three home run against Colorado on Tuesday.
As many times as the team and fans alike have waited for the eventual emergence of his bat, Andrew Friedman believes that the grueling struggles he’s endured the first three months of the season will translate into a successful second half, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.
“To date, obviously, Michael hasn’t performed up to what he expected or we expected,” Friedman said. “But, watching the way he is working, watching the progress being made, I would bet that his next two months are way better than his last two months.”
Robert Suárez of the San Diego Padres was able to appeal his suspension and have it reduced to just two games, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic.
Suárez was initially handed a three-game suspension and a fine after drilling Shohei Ohtani in the bottom of the ninth inning on Thursday, but admitted zero intent behing hitting him.