Mookie Betts


Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts is an American professional baseball outfielder, shortstop, and second baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. He debuted in MLB for the Boston Red Sox. He is an eight-time All-Star, seven-time Silver Slugger Award winner, six-time Gold Glove Award recipient, four-time World Series champion, and was named the Most Valuable Player in the American League in 2018. He is among the top three players in Wins Above Replacement. Internationally, Betts represents the United States.
Betts was drafted by the Red Sox in 2011 and made his MLB debut in the 2014 season, splitting time between second base and the outfield. He became the Red Sox center fielder in 2014, before moving to right field in 2016. In 2020, after six seasons with Boston, he was traded to the Dodgers and signed a 12-year, $365 million extension with the team through the 2032 season.
As a relatively short second baseman with a high contact rate and a high level of production when pulling the ball, Betts has been compared to former Red Sox teammate Dustin Pedroia. In 2018, Betts became the first player in MLB history to win the Most Valuable Player, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, batting title, and World Series in the same season. He has won the 2020, 2024, and 2025 World Series with Los Angeles. Betts is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation.
Outside of baseball, Betts is also a professional ten-pin bowler for the Professional Bowlers Association. He bowled a perfect game in the World Series of Bowling in 2017.

Early life

Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts was born on October 7, 1992, in Nashville. His parents chose his name in part forming the initials MLB, matching those of Major League Baseball. He has attributed his nickname Mookie to his parents watching former NBA guard Mookie Blaylock play basketball shortly after Betts was born. Betts has said that he has never met Blaylock. When Little League Baseball coaches refused to accept Betts because of his small size, his mother started her own team so that her son could play.
In 2010, his junior year at John Overton High School, Betts batted.548 with 24 steals. In November of that year, Betts committed to the University of Tennessee on a baseball scholarship after also getting recruited by Vanderbilt University, Mississippi State University, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
At Overton, Betts was also a standout basketball player, named MVP of the District 12-AAA league his senior season while averaging 14.1 points, nine assists, four rebounds, and three steals per game; he was named Class AAA All-City Player of the Year for the Nashville metropolitan area. His junior year, Betts was named MVP of the District 12-AAA tournament. Betts also excelled in bowling, named the Tennessee Boys Bowler of the Year in 2010 with a high score of 290. He grew up bowling at the Donelson Strike and Spare in Donelson, Tennessee.

Professional career

Boston Red Sox

2011–2013: Draft and minor leagues

The Boston Red Sox selected Betts in the fifth round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft with the 172nd overall pick as a second baseman. After protracted negotiations, he signed with the Red Sox, forgoing his commitment to the University of Tennessee, for a $750,000 signing bonus that exceed the slot value of his draft pick. Betts played one game in 2011 for the GCL Red Sox of the rookie Gulf Coast League, getting two hits in four at bats. In 2012, he batted.267 and stole 20 bases in 71 games for the short season Lowell Spinners of the New York–Penn League. He played shortstop regularly, but looked more comfortable at second base.
Betts started the 2013 season with the Greenville Drive of the Low A South Atlantic League. In 76 games, Betts batted.296, with a 19-game hitting streak, and was selected to the South Atlantic League All-Star Game.
On July 9, Betts was promoted to the Salem Red Sox of the High A Carolina League, batting.341 in 51 games to complete the 2013 season, with a combined.314 average in 127 games between Greenville and Salem, with 15 home runs and 38 steals. He was named Offensive Player of the Year and Breakout Player of the Year in the Boston minor league system, leading all Sox minors players with a.506 slugging percentage, while his.314 batting average ranked him third behind Alex Hassan and Garin Cecchini. Betts was a second-team inclusion on the Baseball America Minor League All-Star Team for 2013, with the first-team selection for second base going to Marcus Semien, an infielder for the Chicago White Sox. Betts subsequently played 16 games for the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League, batting.271.

2014 season: MLB rookie season

Betts opened the 2014 season with the Portland Sea Dogs of the Double-A Eastern League, batting.355 in 54 games to lead the Eastern League through June 2. On June 3, Betts was promoted to the Pawtucket Red Sox of the Triple-A International League, batting.322 and reaching base in all 23 games with the PawSox.
In 2013 and 2014, Betts reached base in 66 straight regular-season games plus five playoff games for a combined streak of 71 games. Because official baseball streak records do not include playoff games, Betts' streak has been listed at 66 games; Kevin Millar and Kevin Youkilis hold the official minor league record for consecutive games reaching base, at 71 games, with Minor League Baseball lacking data on the statistic before 1997.
In mid-May, Betts began playing the outfield in addition to second base. In 2013, four-time All-Star second baseman Dustin Pedroia signed an eight-year, $110 million contract extension with the Red Sox, leading to speculation that the Red Sox would move Betts to a new position.
Betts was promoted to the Red Sox on June 28. He had previously been selected for the All-Star Futures Game, but was replaced following his promotion to the major leagues. Betts made his debut on June 29, recording his first major league career hit against Yankees starter Chase Whitley in the fourth inning. He hit his first home run on July 2 off the Chicago Cubs' Carlos Villanueva. He then was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket on July 19, when Shane Victorino was activated from the disabled list, and was recalled to Boston on August 1. Betts was optioned back to Pawtucket in August and recalled again on August 18.
On August 29, Betts hit his first career grand slam against Rays pitcher Chris Archer at Tropicana Field. At age 21, Betts became the youngest Sox player to hit a grand slam in 49 years. Betts spent most of the 2014 season playing in the outfield, but on September 11, manager John Farrell announced that Betts would play second base "fairly regularly" following injuries to regular second basemen Dustin Pedroia and Brock Holt.
Betts split the 2014 season fairly evenly among Double-A, Triple-A, and MLB, playing 52 major league games. He performed well for the Red Sox, hitting.291 with five home runs. He played over half his innings in center field.

2015 season: Shift to right field

On April 6, 2015, Opening Day for the Red Sox against the Philadelphia Phillies, Betts hit a home run in his second at-bat, becoming the third youngest player to hit a home run on Opening Day for the Red Sox. On April 13, in the home opener at Fenway Park against the Washington Nationals, Betts arguably had the most exciting performance of his career. He robbed Bryce Harper of a home run, stole two bases on one play, and hit a home run into the Green Monster seats, all in the first three innings.
Betts was named the American League Player of the Week for the week ending on June 21. Within that week, Betts batted.581 with two home runs, two triples, three doubles, seven RBI and eight runs. He led the AL in batting average, hits, on-base percentage, total bases, and slugging percentage that week. In the latter part of the season, he spent some time in right field, leading to speculation that he would move there permanently to allow teammate Jackie Bradley Jr. to take over in center field. Betts ended the 2015 season with a.291 batting average, with 92 runs scored, 77 RBIs, 18 home runs and 21 stolen bases.

2016 season: First All-Star appearance

Betts was selected to the 2016 MLB All-Star Game, the first of his career. He started in right field and was 1-for-2 with a single, and a RBI. Betts was named the AL Player of the Month for July, when he batted.368 with five home runs, 15 RBIs, five stolen bases and a 1.068 OPS in 23 games. On September 20, Betts became the first player to reach 200 hits during the 2016 MLB season. In 158 games played, Betts finished the season with a.318 batting average, 214 hits, 122 runs scored, 42 doubles, 31 home runs, 113 RBI, and an MLB-leading 359 total bases. His 67 multi-hit games also led MLB. He also was second in the league in power–speed number.
With the Red Sox finishing the season 93–69, the team clinched the AL East Division but succumbed to a three-game sweep by the Cleveland Indians in the American League Division Series. Wilson Sporting Goods named Betts its Defensive Player of the Year at right field and best overall among all major league fielders. After the season, Betts was named a finalist for the AL MVP Award, alongside Mike Trout and Jose Altuve. He finished second in voting behind Trout.
In November, Betts underwent right knee surgery.

2017 season: Second All-Star appearance

Prior to the 2017 season, Betts and the Red Sox were unable to come to terms on a contract. The Red Sox renewed Betts' contract with a salary of $950,000, up from $566,000 in 2016 and the second-highest pre-arbitration salary in MLB history.
From September 12, 2016, through to April 19, 2017, Betts went 129 consecutive plate appearances without striking out. His streak ended against Francisco Liriano of the Toronto Blue Jays. On July 2, he tied an MLB record with eight RBIs from the leadoff slot in a 15–1 rout of the Blue Jays on July 2. He was selected to his second All-Star Game the same day. Originally chosen as a reserve, it was announced on July 3 that Betts would start in place of Mike Trout, who was out due to surgery on his thumb.
Betts ended the season with a.264 batting average, 101 runs scored, 26 stolen bases, 24 home runs, and 102 RBIs. Betts led the Red Sox in each of those categories except batting average, as he batted just.236 from the All-Star break through September 4. Despite his solid stats on the season, Betts struggled to turn balls in play into hits. His batting average on balls in play fell 54 points from its 2016 level to.268. He also was third in the league in power–speed number. He won his second consecutive Gold Glove Award.