The Los Angeles Dodgers, barring an unforeseen unmitigated disaster, will be making the playoffs for the 11th consecutive season. One such reason behind their continued dominance over their NL West peers is the consistent excellence of Mookie Betts, who, once again, has set the table quite well for the rest of the Dodgers lineup by virtue of being a force at the leadoff spot.

And on Monday night, Betts continued to prove that he is one of the greatest leadoff hitters not just in the game today, but in MLB history as well. In the very first at-bat of the ball game for the Dodgers, Betts hit a ball out of the park for his 39th of the season, driving in his 100th run of the season in the process.

Thanks to yet another excellent plate appearance from the leadoff position, Mookie Betts joined an exclusive three-person club that highlights his excellence at the top of the Dodgers order. According to Dodger Insider, Betts became just the third leadoff hitter in history to tally 100 runs batted in in a season, joining Charlie Blackmon and Darin Erstad who accomplished the feat in 2017 and 2000, respectively.

That is indeed good company for the Dodgers right fielder, as this goes to show that heavy hitters don't just belong in the heart of the batting order. Blackmon and Erstad were legitimate superstar-caliber players during their peak, as they hit for a high average (thereby getting on base quite often), had considerable power, and also ran the basepaths quite well — hallmarks of a true leadoff hitter.

Moreover, this list shows the direction in which the leadoff spot is trending. For years, plenty of baseball teams relied on slap-hitting speedsters, usually outfielders, to kick things off at the plate, with the likes of Juan Pierre and Ben Revere, among others, being the epitome of this kind of player. But now, as the Dodgers star showed, there can be a ton of benefits to disregarding traditional leadoff hitter archetypes. Sabermetrics tend to show that giving quality hitters as many plate appearances as possible is a recipe to success, and Mookie Betts certainly has shown that to be the case.