GLENDALE, Ariz. — In his first season with the Dodgers, Mookie Betts finished second in the National League MVP voting, won Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards and earned his second World Series ring.
As the season was playing out, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Betts had somehow proven to be “considerably better than expected” when he arrived from Boston.
“I just don’t know how many more superlatives you can add,” Roberts said last season.
Asked for his own assessment of his 2020, Betts adopted a much different tone.
“It was serviceable. It got the job done,” he said Friday morning at Camelback Ranch. “That’s what we’re here for. This year, I’m not looking to be any better or any worse. Just come here to do my job. Help the team win, no matter what it takes.”
If the Dodgers were pleasantly surprised by how good Betts was last year, it might be because they expected a five-tool player – and got a six-tool player. Betts’ leadership ability was apparent before the first full-squad workout last spring when he stood up in front of his new team and spoke about what he felt it would take to win a championship, setting a tone of focus and commitment.
This spring, Betts said he didn’t feel the need to reprise the moment.
“I think it’s just kind of carried over,” he said. “I don’t think it needs to be said. I think we kind of see it worked. It wasn’t just me though. It took everybody. That was the thing. Everybody kind of bought in to the culture and I think that culture is here to stay.”
The fine system that Betts and Justin Turner put in place last spring is also here to stay. Betts joked that everyone is still “knocking the rust off” so enough money has already been collected from errors during the workouts that “we can go to a nice dinner.”
The season following Betts’ first World Series experience in 2018, the Boston Red Sox finished third in their division and failed to make the playoffs. But Betts said he wouldn’t blame that – or the fact no team has repeated as World Series champions since 2000 – on a championship hangover.
“I think it’s all a kind of a mental thing. If you say there’s a hangover, a hangover is more bound to happen,” Betts said. “I think we’re here to work. We can’t really worry about that because that’s not here. I think we’ll take it one day at a time. I think we’re doing that. We’re doing everything with a purpose.
“You can’t really worry about all those other things. You can say there’s a hangover. You can say the pitching is going to be stretched (by the return to a 162-game regular season). You can say all those type of things. To me, those are all excuses. You fix your mind to go into battle and let the chips fall where they may.”
A number of players – and Roberts as well – have talked about the fact that last year’s championship couldn’t be celebrated fully due to the coronavirus pandemic – no champagne showers, no championship parade through downtown. That, they have said, is a motivation to win again this year.
“I mean, if that’s what your motivation is then that’s what your motivation is,” Betts said. “That’s not mine. It’s just to hold up that trophy.”
THIRD BASE
For most of the offseason, the Dodgers did not have a third baseman. Turner was unsigned and the Dodgers had not made a move to acquire a third baseman – though Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman acknowledged working to line up alternatives.
For Edwin Rios, that could have felt enticing. Without an incumbent at the position, the 26-year-old could have seen a path to an everyday role in the big leagues opening for him.
“No,” Rios said to that. “I try not to look at the media too much and kind of see what’s going on. I mean, obviously everybody knows and I had family and friends who were kind of bringing it up. But, I was just excited to get back here at spring training.
“I knew JT was coming back. It was one of those things. I’m excited for every opportunity I’m gonna get so I’m just gonna keep working.”
With Turner re-signed and no designated hitter in National League games, at-bats might be even more scattered for Rios in 2021.
“I try not to think about it too much,” said Rios, who has hit 12 home runs in 123 big-league at-bats over two seasons. “I’m gonna have to go out there and perform in whatever situation I get put in.”
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