Exclusive | Dodgers Mookie Betts is MLBs unluckiest hitter: It sucks living with

Mookie Betts felt like he had done everything right in the bottom of the sixth inning Tuesday evening.He timed up a first-pitch cutter that Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen left right down the middle.He took an aggressive swing that sent the ball screaming off his bat at 101.3 mph.

He scorched a line drive that, according to MLB’s Baseball Savant system, had an expected batting average of .640 — the kind of contact that should have gone for a hit more than six times out of 10.This, however, was not one of those occasions.Just as Betts broke out of the box, he looked up to see Rays infielder Taylor Walls snare the ball for a lineout at shortstop.“You just kind of have to live with that,” Betts said a day later.“It sucks living with.

But what else can you do?”Such has been the story of Betts’ season this year, one that has seen the former MVP continue to lag well behind his typical offensive production.Through 40 games (he missed more than a month with an oblique strain in April), the 33-year-old is hitting just .203.That’s 85 points below his career average and 55 points worse than his career-worst mark of .258 in 2025.His quality of contact, however, suggests his numbers should be much better.According to Baseball Savant, Betts’ expected batting average (which accounts for exit velocity and launch angle) was .269 at the start of play Wednesday.

The 66-point gap between his actual and expected average was the biggest in baseball. In other words, he might be the unluckiest hitter in the sport now.That doesn’t mean it’s a coincidence.Betts is aware of his extreme analytics, having received constant reminders of them from the Dodgers’ hitting staff as he tries to turn his season around.“The coaches are trying to help keep me positive, which I wholeheartedly appreciate,” he said in an interview with The California Post on Wednesday. At the same time, though, he noted that expected statistics are “not real.”“I want to keep hitting it...