Home Baseball Mookie Betts: In the NLDS, the Dodgers faced a ‘different’ Diamondbacks team

Mookie Betts: In the NLDS, the Dodgers faced a ‘different’ Diamondbacks team

Baseball — 11/03/2023

After yet another 100-win season, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the National League West for the tenth time in the previous eleven seasons; however, they were swept in the NL Division Series by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Dodgers to face Diamondbacks in NLDS, hoping to stay on roll - Los Angeles Times

Although the Dodgers outscored the Diamondbacks 72-47 during the regular season and won eight of their 13 head-to-head encounters, the matchup appeared to favour the Dodgers on paper.

Nevertheless, after limiting Los Angeles to only six runs in three games, Arizona appeared to be the better team. Throughout the series, the Diamondbacks also hit nine home runs and stole five bases.

Before Game 4 of the World Series, Mookie Betts spoke with the MLB on the Fox panel and said he thought the Dodgers faced a much better Diamondbacks team.

Dodgers' 100-win 2023 season ends in NLDS loss to Diamondbacks - Los Angeles Times

“The season began with them on fire, and they gradually cooled off.” Every team experiences periods of inactivity, don’t they? However, they simply continued to improve and improve. And it was almost like a new team when we played them in the postseason. They had been slugging. You might dispute this, that, and the others about how hot they were. No, they were still stealing bases and taking an extra base for themselves. They have advanced it to a new degree. They were able to defeat the Phillies and advance to the World Series because of this.

The Diamondbacks pulled off another surprise by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in seven games during the NL Championship Series, following their sweep of the Dodgers. Winning the away games by six and seven was part of that.

Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman useless for Dodgers in NLDS - Los Angeles Times

Then, for just the second time in franchise history, the Diamondbacks made it to the Fall Classic, but the Texas Rangers upset them in five games. The D-Backs astonished a lot of people throughout baseball, even though they were unable to win.

Dodgers’ World Series absence, according to Mookie Betts, “really stinks.”
Betts, who went hitless in 11 at-bats during the NLDS, was one of the Dodgers batters who had a difficult time. His offensive shortcomings were a major factor in the team’s second straight early postseason elimination.