The Los Angeles Dodgers took Mookie Betts out of the lineup on Saturday after an 0-for-4 showing in the first game back from the All-Star break. The timing isn’t great, no matter how you slice it. Either things have gotten so bad for Betts that Dave Roberts saw no choice but to bench him, or he’s picked up an injury of some kind.
Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times posted the lineup for Saturday’s game. Betts was replaced by catcher Will Smith batting second. Miguel Rojas will step in for him at shortstop while batting ninth.
Mookie Betts, who continued slumping last night with an 0-for-4, is not in the Dodgers lineup today
— Jack Harris July 19, 2025
Mookie Betts’ slump has reached a breaking point
Betts is batting .241/.311/.377 this season. His OPS is down to .688, far and away a career low. Over the last month, he’s slashing just .195/.209/.317.
If the Dodgers hoped the All-Star break would help Betts reset, they were let down. In Friday’s return to action, Betts was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. It was not pretty.
“I’ve never done this,” Betts recently told reporters, via The Athletic “It’s all new. I’ve never been this bad for this long.”
Rather than let Betts continue to try to work his way out of it, it looks like the Dodgers are taking a more drastic measure. Sitting down an MVP-caliber player isn’t easy. This rest isn’t for his body. As best we can tell, Betts is healthy. And he just had four days off. He wasn’t an All-Star this season, so we know he got his rest.
No, this is clearly a mental health day. A guy who swings at a pitch like this definitely needs it.
Will a day be enough though? Or is Betts going to miss the rest of the series? Will the Dodgers consider moving him from shortstop and back into the outfield for a spell? A solution has to be found.
