I feel like every single time I watch Mookie Betts play he does something to remind me just how good he is. The man is 24 years old and is already finding his name etched into the Boston Red Sox’ history books. With today’s leadoff home run, Mookie jumped Jacoby Ellsbury to set the record for most leadoff home runs in franchise history (11).
Mookie’s home run today came off of Tampa Bay Rays ace Chris Archer. Archer throws a mid to upper 90’s fastball and a slider in the high 80’s, even touching 91 mph. Perfect for Mookie to showcase his abilities. In a 1-1 count, Archer tried to drop a slider into the zone, but Mookie got his hands through the zone, as he does better than anyone, and drove the ball on a line into the stands.
The #RedSox leadoff homer king, just doing his thing. pic.twitter.com/uH48BhKti9
— Red Sox (@RedSox) July 9, 2017
Mookie is no stranger to the long ball. He launched 31 homers last season, and including today’s, he has 16 going into this season’s All-Star break. What impresses me the most about Mookie’s power is not the numbers that he puts up, but where the power comes from. Unlike New York Yankees phenom and MLB home run leader Aaron Judge, Mookie is not a hybrid of Ivan Drago and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He stands 5 foot 9 inches tall and is listed at 180 lbs, which is generous. But good lord he was blessed with quick-twitch muscles and hands that move at ludicrous speed.
Mookie Betts is a human highlight reel. He’s the face of the Red Sox right now and will represent them in the All-Star game, along with Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel. But there’s more coming. Mookie was batting .272 coming into today’s game, and I think he’s just starting to heat up. Back in the leadoff spot, Mookie is where he belongs. He will put on a show in the second half, and the AL East will suffer the consequences. When it’s all said and done, a 30 home run, 30 steal season is well within reach. He’s halfway to each of those numbers already. Oh, and the Red Sox leadoff home run record? Mookie isn’t close to done there, either. Consider that untouchable for a long, long time.
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