Mookie Betts is outperforming the Mets and more this season

Many conversations about the Los Angeles Dodgers have centered around their starting pitching staff, and rightfully so after the team exceeded $1 billion in contract money this offseason to bolster their rotation. 

However, it is the bats of the Dodgers lineup that have contributed to their 6-2 run to begin the 2024 MLB campaign, ranking at or near the top of every major offensive statistical category — in large part because of the hot start of seven-time All-Star slugger Mookie Betts.

Betts has been driving in and scoring runs at will, to a point where he is outperforming the offensive outputs of multiple teams, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register highlights in a post shared on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Mookie Betts is outscoring multiple teams by his lonesome, including the New York Mets

Plunkett notes that Betts has scored a league-leading 14 runs through the first eight games of the season, a feat that teams like the New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, and Minnesota Twins cannot say for themselves. 

Is this more a credit to what Betts has done to start the year or a testament to how badly the Mets, White Sox, and Twins lack offensive firepower in their lineups?

Whatever the case, no other player has scored double-digit runs so far this season — Ketel Marte, Steven Kwan, and Dodgers teammate Teoscar Hernandez are the next-closest with nine.

Leading the league in hits (15), batting average (.500), home runs (five), RBIs (11), total bases (35), on-base percentage (.605), slugging percentage (1.167), Betts has been nothing short of remarkable at the plate thus far through the first eight games of 2024. He appears to be on his way to a career year, which is even more impressive considering he is already one of baseball's best hitters and all-around players.