As summer winds down, Dodgers star Mookie Betts is heating up in a major way.
Though they lost a dramatic game the Braves, 8–7, on Thursday night, Betts and the Dodgers wrapped up a red-hot August in which they went 24–5 to stretch their lead in the NL West from two games to 13.5.
No one was more crucial to the Dodgers’ success during that period than Betts, who just put together one of the most impressive single months in the history of the game.
Betts finished August with a .455 batting average, 1.355 OPS, 11 home runs and 51 total hits. Not only was that the best August of any hitter in the majors this season, Betts’s one-month performance ranks among the best the game has ever seen.
There have only been 13 instances in MLB history of a player recording a batting average of at least .400 and at least 10 home runs in a single month. The most recent example was Barry Bonds in April 2004 (.472, 10 homers). Babe Ruth accomplished the feat three times and Lou Gehrig did it twice. It’s only happened eight times since the end of World War II.
Mookie Betts finished August batting .455 with 51 hits and 11 home runs.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 1, 2023
He's the 3rd player since 1900 to have a .450 average with 50 hits and 10 HR in a single month, joining Babe Ruth (July 1923-24) and Lou Gehrig (June 1930). pic.twitter.com/86RPz4oclY
Even fewer players in the history of the game have picked up as many hits as Betts in a single month while also hitting so many balls out of the yard. Since 1930, only one other player has had a .400 average, 10 homers and 50 total hits in a single month (Richard Hidalgo in September 2000).
Betts’s torrid month has vaulted him to the top of the National League WAR leaderboard. He’s been worth 7.8 wins above replacement this season, according to both Fangraphs and Baseball Reference, and is the betting favorite to win the NL MVP award.
