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Four big reasons the 2018 Boston Red Sox are a different team

By Connor Friend

TORONTO, ON - MAY 12: Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox is congratulated by J.D. Martinez #28 after scoring a run in the third inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on May 12, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MAY 12: Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox is congratulated by J.D. Martinez #28 after scoring a run in the third inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on May 12, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

The Return of MVP Mookie

Through 54 games, arguably no one in baseball has been better than Mookie Betts.

It’s gotten to the point that its nearly impossible to find a statistical batting category that he isn’t in the top 5. In the early goings, he has been absolutely tremendous, batting .359 with 17 home runs and 37 RBIs. Betts is leading the league in Batting Average, Home Runs, Runs, Slugging, OPS, and Doubles. Mookie has returned to the MVP race with a bang.

This is especially promising for Betts, who struggled towards the end of last season, finishing with a career-low .264 average and only 24 home runs. So far in 2018, he is more than halfway to his total last year. The troubling part about last season is that Betts actually had one less strikeout than he did the year before in his runner-up MVP season.

This year, Mookie is seeing the ball in all different kinds of ways. The approach is the same, Mookie still hits like a classic leadoff man, but his launch angle has improved to 17.4 with more home runs coming higher up in the zone. Defensively, Mookie is still one of the leagues best outfielders and still totes a crystal clean fielding percentage. He’s on pace to be in the MVP conversation once again.

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