Mookie Betts: 180 lbs. of Power
For the past three seasons, an anomaly has quietly disrupted the MLB home run leaderboards. Venture beyond the colossal powerhouse hitters, and you'll spot Mookie Betts. On average he's five inches shorter and 42 pounds lighter than the other sluggers who topped the 2023 charts.
Yet, Betts at 5’9 180 lbs. still smashed his way to eighth place with 39 homers. Now, as 2024 unfolds, it seems like Betts is not just back for an encore, he's cranking up the volume and blasting off the season with more firepower than ever. So, how does he do it?
Many are quick to praise the star for his unreal physical talents, labeling him perhaps the game's most athletic. But is it that simple? Here’s how Mookie Betts converts his 180-pound frame into elite power.
Pulling the ball
Unlike other top sluggers who can dispatch home runs to any part of the park with relative ease, Mookie Betts operates within a more defined realm of power. Recognizing the limits of his 180-pound frame, Betts doesn’t bother trying to hit homers across the entire field. Instead, he adopts a strategy that caters to the physics of his game by pulling the ball to the closest fence in left field.
In the 2023 season, an eye-opening 32 out of his 39 homers were deliberately hit to left field, with a mere two making a rare appearance to the right. Out of his impressive haul of 80 extra-base hits last year, the distribution was stark: 67 to left, 11 to center, and just those 2 to right.
You might be thinking, "Don't many power hitters try to pull the ball?" They sure do. Yet, what sets Mookie apart is his unmatched ability to consistently drive fly balls and line drives into left field, effectively turning hits that range from 350 to 390 feet into home runs.
In the following table are the top ten 2023 homerun leaders ranked by how many fly balls and line drives they pulled in fair territory.
By simply getting the ball in the air to his pull side more than anyone else Mookie managed to place eighth in homers while being 156th in average homerun distance. How on earth does Mookie get this done? It comes down to two reasons.
The Dodger Swing
While pulling the ball has been part of Mookie’s game for years the Dodgers have often perfected the art. When you think about Bett’s approach it holds many similarities to that of Justin Turner, Will Smith and J.D. Martinez. All these hitters weren’t only Dodgers, but righties focused on lifting the ball to left using a high leg kick. The approach is clearly something Dodger’s coaching staff has put considerable work into.
Here are the three mechanics that seem most vital to his swing.
· Ending right palm up to avoid rolling over
· Utilizing a high leg kick to generate more power
· Leaning forward with his left shoulder mid-stride
In recent years, the most significant change in his swing is the pronounced lean toward the pitcher mid-stride. This adjustment appears to significantly enhance his ability to drive his right hip forward explosively. Compared to his time with the Red Sox, his swing now seems more connected and fluid, whereas before it seemed just slightly more disjointed.
These swing mechanics work best when Mookie manages to get a pitch on the inner half and low pitches. The following graphic I pulled from baseball savant shows his batting averages for each zone.
The hot zones are all where it’s easiest for Mookie to pull the ball at a favorable launch angle. While Mike Trout is considered the most notoriously great low-ball hitter its time people started giving Mookie Betts similar recognition.
The Golden Eye
Looking at the previous graphic it’s hard to not notice the weaknesses of Mookie’s plate coverage. On the outer half Mookie’s numbers are far worse and if pitchers can get him to chase, he’s just a bad hitter. So why don’t pitchers simply attack his weaknesses?
Outside of Juan Soto, Mookie Betts has perhaps the best eye in baseball. In his career he’s been incredibly adept at avoiding pitcher’s pitches while maintaining readiness for pitches thrown in his hot zones.
Pitchers are constantly trying to get Mookie chasing out of the zone but it usually leads them to fall into hitter’s counts that favor Mookie. Hitting the corner low and away is their best option but Mookie spoils that in a couple of ways. First, Mookie is smart to swing at these less and second, he manages to suffer less from falling behind in the count.
In addition to his great eye Mookie has a very low whiff rate giving him even more ability to survive when he gets behind in the count allowing him more chances to get a pitch he truly wants.
Conclusion
Mookie has learned to develop phenomenal homerun numbers despite lacking great power. Bett's masterfully executed approach turns power hitting into an art of patience, strategy, and finesse. An approach that consistently shrinks the field into the dimensions that fit him best.
It’s a superior strategy meticulously crafted, Mookie Betts is more than just a freak athlete.
References
· Stats and information pulled from Baseball Savant Baseball Savant: Statcast, Trending MLB Players and Visualizations | baseballsavant.com
- OpenAI’s DALL-E “Mookie Betts article image” [Graphic Generated April 5th, 2024]