Here’s one way to define a genuine Major League Baseball superstar: In what feels like a down year, or at least one that has come with pockets of surprisingly prolonged frustration, he’s still one of the premier players in baseball.
Mookie Betts is not going to repeat as American League Most Valuable Player this season. He’s not even the most valuable and productive player in the Red Sox lineup, and we’ll save that fun Rafael Devers vs. Xander Bogaerts argument for another day.
His slugging percentage is down 156 points from his majors-leading .640 last year. His batting average is down 61 points from his MLB-leading .