Mookie Betts has been vital to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ recent success, but he is coming off an uncharacteristically down year at the plate in 2025.
Betts hit just .258/.326/.406 with 23 doubles, 20 home runs and 82 RBI in 150 games this past season. He wasn’t much of a factor in the first half but started to turn things around after the All-Star break, only to struggle again during the playoffs.
Betts was critical of his performance and made several changes this offseason in an effort to get back on track.
“Just kind of rewiring my body to do what I wanted it to do,” Betts said. “Even though it was down last year, before I got sick, I was probably having one of the best springs I’ve ever had. So I just got to get back to just rewiring and trusting myself.
“I’m really not worrying about having a bad year last year. Just putting that out of my mind and not even trying to have a good year this year. It’s really just playing. Just play, have fun, and we’ll get there whenever we get there.”
Betts noted that he worked on all aspects of his game, including his swing, mentality and movement.
“More just rewiring my mechanics, my brain, the motor patterns,” Betts explained. “I think it kind of got out of whack early on, and once I got out of whack early, it was just like a snowball effect.
“And so now I’ve gotten to put the training wheels on, take my time, and really stack positive days. I stacked positive days over and over, and now we’re in a really good spot.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts previously discussed Betts’ struggles and believes a bounce-back season is inevitable with the eight-time All-Star now settled in as the team’s everyday shortstop.
Mookie Betts planning to retire after 2032 season
Although he still has plenty of baseball left, Betts is already thinking about his future and revealed plans to retire after the 2032 season, when his contract with the Dodgers expires.
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