The Los Angeles Dodgers’ promising season came to a screeching halt Wednesday night after the 100-win NL West champs were swept out of the MLB postseason by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Former Boston Red Sox star Mookie Betts went hitless in the series and, by his own admission, did “nothing” to keep his team’s postseason hopes alive.
“It’s obviously super frustrating,” Betts told reporters after the game. “There is no real words for it. They’d play better. We didn’t do much — I can’t speak for all of us, but I know, for sure, I did absolutely nothing to help us win.”
Betts, who made his seventh career All-Star team this season, went ice-cold when the Dodgers hit the postseason. Betts went hitless over the Dodgers’ three-game postseason stint, going 0-for-11 with a walk and a run scored. He struck out twice and reached on an error once.
It was a disastrous end for what had been a dominant team all year. L.A. dominated the division, but was lifeless in a three-game series against a Diamondbacks team that squeaked into the postseason via the Wild Card, finishing 16 games behind the Dodgers in the division.
As for Betts, what had looked like an MVP-caliber season went south once the calendar hit September. After Sept. 1, Betts hit .244 with a .718 OPS with just one home run. That combined with a frigid postseason was a rough way to end what had been one of Betts’ best seasons at the plate. He hit .307 with a .987 OPS and a career-best 39 home runs in 2023.
However, the postseason struggles are likely to speak louder than his regular-season resume.
“I didn’t do very much towards the end of the season,” Betts said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s frustrating or not, you’ve got to get the job done. Doesn’t matter how you were playing, doesn’t matter what was going on. At the end of the day, when this postseason starts, you’ve gotta get the job done.”
