Mookie Betts may have just turned 32 years old, but the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar continues to bolster his already impressive Hall of Fame resume.
Betts won a Silver Slugger Award on Tuesday, earning the honor in the National League’s utility spot. He wasn’t the only Dodger to lay claim to a Silver Slugger, either, as designated hitter Shohei Ohtani expectedly won one as well.
Los Angeles also won the team Silver Slugger Award in the NL.
It marked the seventh Silver Slugger of Betts’ career, and he did it despite missing 46 games with a fractured hand. He still managed to hit .289 with 19 home runs, 24 doubles, five triples, 75 RBI, 16 stolen bases, an .863 OPS and a 4.8 WAR, drawing more walks than he had strikeouts.
Betts already came into 2024 with six Silver Sluggers and six Gold Gloves, a feat that had only been accomplished by seven players before him. Now, Betts is one of just five players in MLB history with at least seven Silver Sluggers and six Gold Gloves.
Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Iván Rodríguez and Ryne Sandberg make up the rest of the exclusive list. Griffey, Rodríguez and Sandberg all have spots in Cooperstown, while Bonds surely would be if not for his connections to performance-enhancing drugs.
Betts has no such controversial ties, only hardware and gaudy stats galore.
Since making his MLB debut with the Boston Red Sox in 2014, Betts has racked up 1,615 hits, 271 home runs, 371 doubles, 39 triples, 831 RBI, 1,071 runs, 188 stolen bases and a 69.6 WAR. He has done all that while batting .294 with an .897 OPS, posting 155 defensive runs saved along the way.
Betts was named AL MVP in 2018, on top of finishing runner-up in 2016, 2020 and 2023. The eight-time All-Star is now a three-time World Series champion thanks to the Dodgers’ title this October.
Even though he is only five years into his tenure with the Dodgers, Betts’ four Silver Sluggers since arriving in Los Angeles rank second in franchise history. Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza is their only player with more, per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, and Betts can tie him atop the leaderboards with another win in 2025.
It figures that Betts will keep etching his name into the history books, considering he is under contract with the Dodgers for another eight seasons. If more Silver Sluggers and Gold Gloves are in Betts’ future, he will only further cement himself as one of the most accomplished players in the game’s modern era.