Red Sox hitting coach details how Mookie Betts changed swing to spark hot streak

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Mookie Betts didn't exactly have a great start to his 2019 campaign. Despite being selected for fourth-straight All-Star Game, Betts was struggling a bit at the plate and batted a paltry .217 in June. That wasn't cutting it, so the Boston Red Sox decided to work on his swing.

Betts and hitting coach Tim Hyers have refined his swing in recent weeks. And Hyers noted the major adjustment that the duo made to cut out some unnecessary motion in Betts' swing.

"Instead of working down and back and then back up, just working down at an angle back and tighten that up a little bit," Hyers said to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. "I think that was the first thing that helped him out: Shorten some things up, but allow his hands to work. Then there’s some cosmetic things he’s been tinkering with to stay through the ball."

Safe to say, that change has worked. Betts is batting .378 with a 1.121 OPS in the month of July and he just had a three-homer game against the New York Yankees. His resurgence has been a big part of why the Red Sox have been able to notch 71 total runs in their last eight games over one of their best offensive stretches of the season.

If Betts can stay hot, he will do quite a bit to solidify the Red Sox offense. And if Betts and the offense can continue to give the pitchers ample run support, that should do a lot to aid the Red Sox' chances of staying competitive in the Wild Card race.

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