{"id":51079,"date":"2025-05-25T08:02:53","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T08:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=51079"},"modified":"2025-05-25T08:02:53","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T08:02:53","slug":"dodgers-mookie-bettss-eye-opening-take-on-competitive-nl-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=51079","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers\u2019 Mookie Betts\u2019s eye-opening take on competitive NL West"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ybmedia\/image\/upload\/c_crop,e_improve,h_673,w_1196,x_2,y_0\/c_fill,f_auto,h_900,q_auto,w_1600\/v1\/m\/2\/c\/2cf3f3e78eacd3440da43c914e346766099f20b0\/Mookie-Betts-does-not-put-much-credence-in-preseason-predictions.jpg\" alt=\"Dodgers\u2019 Mookie Betts\u2019s eye-opening take on competitive NL West\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"ac_101953316\" class=\"article_chunk type_50\">\n<div class=\"froala-view custom-theme first_text_block\">\n<p>The defending World Series champion\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0are in first place in the National League West. That\u2019s where they usually are in nearly every season. But the Dodgers are being pushed hard in the division by the\u00a0San Francisco Giants\u00a0and the San Diego Padres. The fourth-place Arizona Diamondbacks are within reach as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"ac_101953317\" class=\"article_chunk type_51\"><center><\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1926416178030784737&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2Fmlb%2Flos-angeles-dodgers%2Fdodgers-mookie-bettss-eye-opening-take-on-competitive-nl-west&amp;sessionId=3403744440a7e7511e44448f869a2a59f7227399&amp;siteScreenName=yardbarker&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=500px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-8=\"true\" data-tweet-id=\"1926416178030784737\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><\/center><\/div>\n<div id=\"ac_101953318\" class=\"article_chunk type_50\">\n<div class=\"froala-view custom-theme \">\n<p>The Dodgers\u00a0have a 32-20 record following their Saturday night 5-2 defeat at the hands of the New York Mets. Superstar Mookie Betts is one of the dominant offensive players on the team along with fellow superstars Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman. He\u00a0spoke about\u00a0the preseason assessments that several observers made during the offseason and spring training that had the Dodgers winning as many as 120 games this season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think I had a vision of seeing how it played out,\u201d Betts said, in an interview with Fox reporter Ken Rosenthal. \u201cThat\u2019s not how it works. Everyone out here is trying to win. It\u2019s hard, playing the game is hard. Expecting any team to win 120 games because you have a good roster is hard. There are a lot of variables that go into it. The division is tough. There are a lot of really good ball players and a lot of really good teams. It\u2019s tough, really tough.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Dodgers superstars have performed, but pitching has been an issue<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"ac_101953319\" class=\"article_chunk type_51\">\n<div class=\"remote_image_container\"><center><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Dave-Roberts-and-his-Dodgers-are-facing-strong-competition-in-the-NL-West-1.jpg\" \/><\/center><\/p>\n<div class=\"remote_image_caption\">Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) gets ready for a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.\u00a0Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"ac_101953320\" class=\"article_chunk type_50\">\n<div class=\"froala-view custom-theme \">\n<p>The Dodgers present a major obstacle every time they take the field. While opponents like the Giants, Padres, New York Mets and Chicago Cubs have talented teams, they all know that they face formidable competition when they take the field against Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>Shohei Ohtani is capable of dominating any game and he has already delivered 17 home runs\u00a0 and 31 runs batted in. Slugger Teoscar Hernandez has blasted the ball out of the ball park 10 times and driven in 41 runs.<\/p>\n<p>First baseman Freddie Freeman is slashing .361\/.429\/.646 with 9 home runs and 34 RBI. Betts has gotten off to a relatively slow start with 6 home runs and 30 RBI, but he is capable of getting hot and carrying the team.<\/p>\n<p>The Dodgers pitching staff has not been as intimidating or as effective as the team\u2019s hitters. Starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto has fulfilled expectations with a 5-3 record along with a 1.86 earned run average and 68 strikeouts in 58 innings.<\/p>\n<p>None of the other Dodgers starting pitchers have an ERA of less than 4.00. The oft-injured Dustin May has started 9 games and he has a 2-4 record with a 4.09 ERA in 50.2 innings.<\/p>\n<p>Closer Tanner Scott has a 3.42 ERA with 10 saves, but he also has four blown saves and that continues to be an issue for manager Dave Roberts and the Dodgers.<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ybmedia\/image\/upload\/c_crop,e_improve,h_673,w_1196,x_2,y_0\/c_fill,f_auto,h_900,q_auto,w_1600\/v1\/m\/2\/c\/2cf3f3e78eacd3440da43c914e346766099f20b0\/Mookie-Betts-does-not-put-much-credence-in-preseason-predictions.jpg\" alt=\"Dodgers\u2019 Mookie Betts\u2019s eye-opening take on competitive NL West\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The defending World Series champion\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0are in first place in the National League West. That\u2019s where they usually are in nearly every season. But the Dodgers&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dodgers\u2019 Mookie Betts\u2019s eye-opening take on competitive NL West - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=51079\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dodgers\u2019 Mookie Betts\u2019s eye-opening take on competitive NL West - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The defending World Series champion\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0are in first place in the National League West. 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