Despite an 8-4 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Dodgerland is not exactly in a celebratory mood. What made the cheers turn into sigh? It’s the Dodgers’ $365 million shortstop’s underwhelming performance during the second game of the Pirates-Dodgers series. He is known for his versatility across infield and outfield positions. Yet the 8-time All-Star failed to deliver his best this time.

Most of the time, fans wait till the end of the game to vent out their judgments over a player’s performance. This time, fans just couldn’t hold back from voicing their displeasure over Mookie Betts’ dangerously poor performance. They took it to X and erupted furiously.

Betts, despite being the Dodgers’ popular outfielder, fans demanded his trade as he failed to live up to their expectations: “Mookie Betts needs to be traded b—h add bum.” When this X user made such a brutal remark, the Dodgers were in a 2-0 lead in the 2nd inning. Yet, it didn’t matter to fans. All they demanded was for Betts to be called out immediately and to trade him later.

It was nearly insane to witness how fans flooded X over with almost the same remark. “Mookie Betts stinks”, It’s the three-time World Series champion we are talking about. Betts’ this outing serves as a sharp contrast with his other stellar outings. Just a month ago, Betts battled with a stomach illness that made him lose nearly 20 pounds. Many doubted whether he would be able to deliver well or not. And it stunned everyone when he hit two home runs, a walk-off and a three-run blast against the Detroit Tigers that contributed to the Dodgers’ 8-5 victory.

Fans’ frustration echoed louder as the game proceeded: “Mookie Betts is p–sing me off again with this team 😤😤😤😤😤”  But why did the fan here add “again”? Simply because during the first game of this Dodgers-Pirates three-game series, the Dodgers weren’t great. Pirates’ pitcher Paul Skenes entirely dominated the game and handed the Dodgers a 3-0 painful loss.

The Dodgers’ fans were furious on another level as they took this shot at Betts: “Mookie Betts is trash this year! Will @FabianArdaya @ByJackHarris @dylanohernandez @BillPlaschke @billplunkettocr @michaeljduarte call him out,” This was one brutal move. The user provoked the media to call him out. It reflects how Betts’ performance has affected fans. They just couldn’t sit well with the way he performed.

The disappointment turned into sheer frustration when Betts was found in a hitting slump: “And Mookie Betts is 4-31!!! F–k u Mookie!!! Quit looking at perfect strikes!!! Swing your f–kin bat b—h!!!!!!!!!”  It stems from when Betts hit 4-31  in his last games, which made his average .129, and this time his hitting slump was very much evident.

Betts has performed remarkably during spring training, but he is failing to deliver in the regular season. For now, Betts has to bounce back stronger in the upcoming games to put an end to this criticism for good.

Betts struggled, but this trio shines in Dodgers’ victory over Pirates

Once again, Mookie Betts has disappointed the Dodgers’ nation. We are 2 games down in a 3-game series against the Pirates. And unfortunately, Betts has struggled in both. But the Los Angeles Dodgers somehow managed to have the odds in their favor.

How did they get through this? It’s the trio that came to the rescue: Two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez, and Freddie Freeman.

Amidst Shohei Ohtani’s hitting slump whispers, he set the tone at the beginning of the game by hitting a triple and two doubles. He kicked things off, he hit a double. Further, to bring him home, Teoscar Hernandez hit a double. Ohtani delivered his best once again during the 6th inning as he slammed a one-out triple to right.

Hernandez had his moment just in the beginning of the eighth inning. To cut the tie, he hit a soaring home run to left field against the Pirates’ pitcher Colin Holderman. And when it came to defense, Freeman saved the game, to say the least. He made a remarkable backhand dive stop on the grounder of Emmanuel Valdez.

It was this trio that reminded the league that the Dodgers always know how to bounce back stronger.