Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts (50) throws to first base during the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Sunday. Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Dodgers' Mookie Betts Admits He's a 'Role Player' for LA This Season

Originally posted on Los Angeles Dodgers on SI
By J.P. Hoornstra | Last updated Sep 9, 2025 7:30 PM ET

Mookie Betts wasn't the best shortstop in baseball in 2024. He didn't have an entire offseason to prepare for the transition, and the regular season didn't allow enough down time for him to hone his craft. After returning from a hand fracture last August, he was back in right field to stay.

Even amid his struggles in the field, Betts slashed .304/.405/.488 as the Dodgers' leadoff hitter before the injury. For those who questioned his defense in the field, Betts could always point to his bat.

The 2025 season has proven to be the opposite. While Betts has struggled mightily at the plate, his defense has shone. His 16 Defensive Runs Saved are tied for 10th in MLB, and second among shortstops. His .986 fielding percentage ranks third. His 3 Outs Above Average (per Statcast) comfortably place Betts in the top half of shortstops.

Meanwhile, Betts' bat has been a drag on the rest of the Dodgers' lineup. His average fell as low as .230 on Aug. 5, shortly after meeting in a Tampa batting cage with former Dodgers DH J.D. Martinez. He's hitting .328, with 12 walks and only eight strikeouts, in 30 games since.

Yet the prolonged toll of Betts' struggles has caused him to re-evaluate his own identity as a baseball player.

“This is no shade to anybody; there’s always role players and role players are very important in sports,” Betts said, via MLB.com's Manny Randhwa. “It takes a whole team. I’ve never been a role player. And I’m not saying that to boast, I’ve just never been that guy.

“So this year, it’s kind of new, but I’m playing kind of a supporting cast role. [The new mindset] is just something that helps me not go insane.”

Betts had to put away his well-known reputation as a perfectionist when he took on the transition to shortstop for similar reasons; at 31, he couldn't realistically expect himself to be the best shortstop in baseball in Year 1.

Now, at 32, and with less than a month remaining in the regular season, Betts is out of time to put himself into the MVP consideration with his bat. His rate stats (.253/.323/.389) won't match his career averages (.290/.369/512) when the season is done.

If that means Betts is a "role player" — albeit one who's batted first or second in nearly every game, while playing elite defense at one of the most demanding positions in the field — so be it. One's sanity is immeasurably more important than their OPS.