Mookie Betts Still Has Value for NL MVP Following Epic May
By Matt De Saro
The NL MVP race is back to a two-dog race thanks to Mookie Betts’ breakout in May. Betts had an awful start to the year, but has since put together one of the best months in recent years. Many thought his chances to win the MVP were gone after April, but as we all know, baseball is a long season and a lot can change in a short amount of time.
This has been the case for Mookie Betts after starting off the 2022 season in a slump. It’s almost as if he needed an extra month to recover from that brutal strikeout to lose the NLCS last season to Atlanta. But, no matter what the issue was, Betts appears to have emerged from the haze of his slump. This is particularly apparent when you look at his home run numbers in May.
In May, Betts crushed 12 home runs for the Dodgers and tied the franchise record for most long balls in May with Roy Campanella. Betts’ also tied the Dodgers' all-time record for extra-base hits in May with Tim Anderson. Wait, no! It was definitely Jackie Robinson. It’s so easy to get those two mixed up, you know.
#Dodgers Mookie Betts' 12 homers in the month of May are tied for the most by a Dodger in the month of May with Roy Campanella (1953).
— Kirsten Watson (@kirsten_watson) May 31, 2022
His 21 EBH are now tied with Jackie Robinson for most all-time in the month of May.
Anyway, the question moving forward is whether or not Bettis has any value to win the NL MVP after his epic month at the plate. I think the short answer is an absolute yes. Betts is currently +400 to win the NL MVP at WynnBET Sportsbook which is quite a lot of value on one of the most talented players in the world. Sure, I’d prefer to have nabbed him during his slump, but that is no reason to pass him up now at 4/1. Unless you think he will fall off a cliff again at the plate.
However, I don’t see that happening and, in fact, really like what I see from him at the plate recently. Specifically his success against breaking balls in May. He is now hitting around .275 and slugging over .470 against breaking balls. He has already matched his total last year in home runs against breaking balls too. He is also limiting strikeouts after getting 22.2 percent of at-bats last month. His strikeout rate in May was 13.4 percent with an OPS of 1.126 and an average well over .330.
Betts won't keep up this pace all year obviously. But, he doesn’t need to. He just has to continue to limit strikeouts, hit breaking balls, and rack up some stolen bases to secure an MVP as far as I see it.