On Thursday evening, Mookie Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers received a bit of disappointing news when it was announced that Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. was being named the NL MVP for the 2023 season. Betts and Acuña were viewed as being in a neck and neck race for the coveted award throughout the 2023 season, with each putting up amazing numbers and having torrent stretches at several different points of the year as the Dodgers and Braves battled in the standings; however, ultimately, the voting committee awarded Acuña with his first ever MVP trophy.

Still, Mookie Betts and the Dodgers received a bit of a silver lining when it was announced that all 30 second place votes for the award went to Betts, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Meanwhile, Betts' Los Angeles teammate Freddie Freeman got 17 of the 30 third place votes for the honor.

The fact that Acuña won the MVP for the Braves and Mookie Betts came in second place was not very well represented by the pair's performance in the 2023 MLB postseason. Both Acuña and Betts looked nothing like their regular season selves in route to shocking first round postseason exits for both the Braves and Dodgers; Atlanta was sent home by the Philadelphia Phillies in a series in which Acuña largely struggled to get his bat heated up, while Betts and most of his teammates were absolutely atrocious in the Dodgers' stunning NLDS sweep at the hands of the heavy underdog Arizona Diamondbacks.

Still, the MVP is a regular season award, and it's nice that Betts got some recognition, even if he didn't win.