Mastrodonato: Mookie Betts’ ‘play of the year’ a reminder of his new identity with the Dodgers

Never in his six years with the Red Sox did Mookie Betts make a play like the one he made for the Dodgers to lift them to a crucial Game 5 victory over the Braves in the National League Championship Series on Friday.

Never did he carry his team for a playoff series the way he’s done twice already this year.

Never did he end a postseason with an OPS over .800, like he is now.

And while this last part is certainly objective, never did he seem so passionate about the game or his team the way he has with the Dodgers this year.

“To me it just seems like this Dodgers team, through the organization there’s a lot more talent (than there was with the Red Sox),” Betts told David Ortiz on Fox Sports during a postgame interview in the Division Series. “We had many very talented groups with the Sox. But it seems like throughout the organization (with the Dodgers), we’re just constantly bringing up guys throwing 100 mph … I can’t even think of all the guys that have come up and contributed. It’s just a never ending cycle of guys that are big league ready.”

It’s been a never ending cycle of firsts for a 28-year-old who was thought to have been in his prime two years ago, but seems to lift himself to new heights as his career continues forward.

The play he made on Friday was the “play of the year,” according to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, and it’s hard to argue.

With the Dodgers down 3-1 in the series to the Braves and facing elimination from the postseason for the eighth straight year, Marcell Ozuna was standing on third base in the early innings Friday night when Dansby Swanson lifted a hard-hit blooper into shallow right.

Betts charged on the ball hard, but Ozuna — and the majority of us watching at home — just assumed the right-fielder had no play on it. Ozuna took a few steps off third base and made his way toward home. Betts kept charging. And without leaving his feet, he bent his glove hand straight down while somehow maintaining his balance and stride, keeping both feet on the ground while scooping in the catch without more than a hairline between the ground and the ball.

Ozuna looked stunned. He was already off the bag when Betts made the catch, then took off for home without properly tagging up. And still Betts’ on-the-run throw after the miraculous catch nearly beat Ozuna’s slide through the plate.

It was one of those rare baseball plays that required both the acrobatic skills of an infielder, to make a cross-body throw while on the move, and the range and patience of an outfielder, to reach the shallow fly and keep his composure the whole way through the catch.

The result was a double play, with Ozuna ruled out for not tagging up properly, and took the Dodgers out of an early funk. They went on to a 7-3 victory to force a Game 6 on Saturday night.

“That was a huge momentum twist for us,” Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager said. “It’s not always the offensive side that you get the spark. A big play in a big moment like that changes everything for you.”

Said the manager, Roberts, “I just thought there was no way he was going to make that play. He’s kind of the straw that stirs us. You can see when Mookie gets on base our team kind of follows.”

Since he arrived in DodgerTown, Betts has been a machine. Not three weeks into the season, he collected his sixth career game with three homers, joining Sammy Sosa and Johnny Mize as the only two hitters in MLB history with six three-homer games.

He hit .292 with a .927 OPS and 16 homers in 55 regular season games. And for the first time in his career, he’s been equally as good in the playoffs, hitting .297 with a .386 on-base percentage out of the leadoff spot.

Not that Red Sox fans need the reminder, but he hit just .227 with a .313 OBP and .654 OPS in 21 playoff games in Boston, never doing a lot to carry his team in the postseason.

Even while his bat has slowed down during this entertaining NLCS series against the Braves, Betts has continued to show up with clutch hits, timely walks and miraculous defensive plays.

It’s the energy, too.

Those who have watched the Dodgers play much this postseason would tell you that Betts is among the team’s biggest cheerleaders. He was there yelling across the field and telling Manny Machado to get back in the dugout when the troublemaking Padres infielder nearly started a brawl in the Division Series. And the entire team has adopted Betts’ signature salt-sprinkling celebration on the bases.

No matter when the Dodgers’ season ends, it won’t be Betts’ fault.

He’s playing like he’s been the face of the Dodgers’ franchise for a decade.