Mookie Betts has shortstop down pat, now is looking to hit again.
At times Betts' down offensive year was blamed on the physical demands of playing shortstop every day. He and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts regularly dismissed that notion. The more likely explanation was Betts contracting an undisclosed virus at the end of Spring Training.
Sudden weight loss prompted the Dodgers to send Betts home from Tokyo without having him appear in either of their two exhibition games or series against the Chicago Cubs. Betts went two and half weeks between playing in a game. That sent him down a path of trying to play catch-up over the duration of the regular season. By August, Betts said he had accept 2025 would be a lost season on a personal level. “My season is kind of over, so I chalk that up to not a great season, but I can help the boys win every night. Get an RBI, make a play, do something," “I had to shift my focus there. Obviously, everyone wants to have great seasons, but it’s a lot easier when you don’t worry about the season and just worry game to game. I think I’ll take this perspective the rest of my career. “It’s something new for me to focus on the moment, really stay in the moment. Like I said, it’s something I’ll use for the rest of my career.” That mindset allowed for Betts to get back on track in some regard, and now he's looking to put last year behind him entirely. "I feel great. Ready to go. I know there's going to be a lot of challenges, just like last year. But we got the group that's kind of been through everything. It will be fun," Betts said at DodgerFest.Betts finished last season with a career-worst .732 on-base plus slugging percentage. Falling well short of expectations sent the 33-year-old down a path of "re-wiring my body to do what I wanted it to do.""I just got to get back to re-wiring and trusting myself. Not worrying about having a bad year last year, just kind of putting that out of my mind," he said. "Not even trying to have a good year this year. Just play, have fun, and we'll get there whenever we get there. "More just re-wiring the mechanics of my brain, the motor pattern. It kind of got out of whack early on, and once it got out of whack early, it was kind of a snowball effect. Now I’ve gotten to put the training wheels on, take my time, and really stack positive days over and over.Matthew Moreno is a journalist from Whittier, Calif., who is the publisher of Dodgers On SI. Matthew has covered the Los Angeles Dodgers as a credentialed reporter since the 2014 season, which has included attending multiple World Series and All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium, among other experiences. Prior to joining Dodgers On SI, Matthew most recently was the Executive Editor of DodgerBlue.com and LakersNation.com.
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