Mookie Betts had an impressive regular season as he again provided a spark atop the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup, and among other accolades, it earned him recognition as a finalists for multiple 2023 Players Choice Awards.
Betts is guaranteed a top-three finish for both National League Outstanding Player and MLB Player of the Year. All 2023 Players Choice Awards winners will be announced Thursday, November 2, during the 3 p.m. PT edition of SportsCenter on ESPN.
While logging 693 plate appearances over 152 games this season, Betts batted .307/.408/.579/ with 40 doubles, 39 home runs, 107 RBI, 14 stolen bases, 126 runs scored and 167 wRC+.
Betts finished in top three in the NL in wRC+, OPS+ (163), doubles, slugging percentage, on-base plus slugging (.987) and extra-base hits (80). His 39 home runs set a new career high, which previously was the 35 he hit during the 2022 season.
Among other accomplishments this year, Betts also set a new MLB record for most RBI out of the leadoff spot.
Betts additionally broke the Dodgers franchise record for most leadoff home runs in a single season with 12. It previously belonged to Joc Pederson, who hit nine leadoff homers in 2019.
How Mookie Betts compares
Fellow finalists for 2023 Players Choice NL Outstanding Player are Atlanta Braves teammates Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson. Acuña, Betts and Olson figure to make up the top three for NL MVP as well when the Baseball Writers’ Association of America makes their announcements.
In terms of the 2023 NL Outstanding Player Award, Acuña figures to be the favorite for that as well. Acuña had the first 40-50 season in MLB history as he finished the year batting .337/.416/.596 with 35 doubles, 41 home runs, 106 RBI and 73 stolen bases.
Acuña led the Majors with 217 total hits, stolen bases and a .416 on-base percentage. His 1.012 on-base plus slugging was tops in the NL.
Meanwhile, Olson hit .283/.389/.604 with 27 doubles, 54 home runs and 139 RBI. Olson led the Majors in home run, RBI and games played (162), and was first among all NL players in slugging percentage.
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