The Boston Red Sox aren’t very good right now, and Mookie Betts thinks he’s a big part of the problem.
The defending World Series champions fell to 6-11 on the young season Monday with a loss to the lowly Baltimore Orioles, settling for a series split with the team against whom Boston won 16 of 19 games a year ago.
Betts, the reigning American League MVP, has yet to show anything resembling his 2018 form. He turned in a listless 0-for-3 performance Monday with a strikeout, dropping his batting average to .222 on the season. Betts has just three home runs and seven RBIs while striking out 13 times in 17 games.
To say it’s a far cry from last year’s performance would be an understatement, and Betts is at least acknowledging his play needs to be better.
Of course, the Red Sox’s struggles are from Betts’ fault alone. In fact, the Red Sox have lost both of his three-hit games this season — by a combined 15 runs. When Betts homers, the Red Sox are 0-3.
It’s hard to put too much blame on Betts, but a turnaround for the Red Sox likely will be sparked by a turnaround from their superstar right fielder.
