Boston Red Sox: Mookie Betts Joins An Elite Club
On Monday night, Boston Red Sox outfielder, and 2016 All-Star, Mookie Betts clubbed his 30th home run of the season. He joined two Red Sox legends in a small club of three.
In the bottom of the second inning of Monday’s 9-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, Mookie Betts went deep off Matt Andriese for home run number 30 of the 2016 season. Aside from reaching a milestone number, and setting a new career high, Betts has now joined Ted Williams and Tony Conigliaro as the only Boston Red Sox players to hit that number before the age of 24.
This season has been spectacular for Betts who has a career high of 96 RBI to go with his 30 round trippers. He also has 35 doubles and five triples, and he is batting .322/.361/.566 in 596 plate appearances.
Betts started off batting leadoff this season, but Red Sox manager John Farrell inserted him into the third slot on August 10. Betts responded to the move so well that Farrell moved him into the clean spot only five days later.
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Since then, Betts has only had one hitless game—on August 21 in a 10-5 loss to Detroit. Betts has eight home runs since moving out of the leadoff spot and is hitting over .441 in his last eight games.
The Fenway crowd serenaded him with chants of “MVP!” during his performance against the Rays on Monday night. Betts went 2-5 with the home run and an RBI double.
Dustin Pedroia, the last Red Sox player to win the American League MVP award (2008), texted congratulations to his teammate last night. Pedroia, who was away from the team to attend a funeral, sent, “Congrats, now turn the page,” to Betts. Betts told reporters that it’s the mindset the team has: Home runs are great, but now it’s time to think about the division.
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The Red Sox are right in the thick of things in the American League East playoff hunt. They only trail the division leading Toronto Blue Jays by two games and currently lead Baltimore by two games in the Wild Card standings. The fact that they’re playing so well will only help Betts’ MVP hunt, and in turn, Betts’ performance, will to help his team return to the playoffs for the first time since winning the World Series in 2013.