Can Mookie Betts changes lead to Dodgers playoff success?

Twice in the last month, teams intentionally went with Shohei Ohtani to play Mookie Betts instead. Both times, the eight-time All-Star and former MVP responded forcefully after making them pay.

On September 3, there was an extra-inning home run against the Angels, a game-winning three-run blast that had Betts pointing to the sky, emotionally high-fiving his teammates and with his hands all the way back to the sky gesticulated dugout – seemingly saying: That's why you don't pitch to me.

Then on Sept. 15 in Atlanta, there was a ninth-inning single, another game-winning hit that had Betts clapping exaggeratedly and then pointing to his dugout, as if to say: Here we go again.

As the postseason begins, Dodgers fans may be saying the same thing about Betts. Since that single in Atlanta, Betts only had ten more hits in the final two weeks of the season. Let's go back to September 11th and he finished the season on a low note, with a batting average of .184 and an on-base plus slugging percentage of .537.

For a star player who has been silent the last two postseasons, it looks like an ominous trend.

Last year, Betts went 0-for-11 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The year before, he had gone just 2 for 14 in another National League Division Series loss to the San Diego Padres.

Coming off Game 4 of the 2021 NL Championship Series, Betts is batting an impressive .079 (three for 38) in his last 10 playoff games.

When we entered a similar crisis in October this year, it triggered a familiar fear. However, those around the Dodgers believe Betts is in a different headspace. He may not be coming into the playoffs with his best momentum, but he has been relieved of some of the pressures he carried in previous postseasons.

Ultimately, this season has been about “losing yourself in the process,” as Betts described it, from learning a new position to coming back from a broken hand to being able to largely ignore your stats.

“If you pay attention to these results,” Betts said, “it will tear you down.”

Manager Dave Roberts believes that's exactly what happened last September, remembering Betts pushing for the second most valuable player award and first 40-homer season.

“Whether he admits it or not, he might have been in the hunt,” Roberts said of Betts, who finished second in the NL MVP voting last season with 39 homers.

This year's late season saw Roberts adopt a different mindset than the 31-year-old, a singular focus on refining the feel of his short, explosive swing and getting back to top form.

“He’s definitely much better off this year going into October than he was last year,” emphasized Roberts. “I think he just felt like whatever was needed to get him ready for the postseason was at the forefront. Where, yes, if you don't try to chase certain numbers or awards, then it will definitely give you more freedom. It’s completely natural.”

It all came together in the two games in which Ohtani went ahead of him – highly emotional, highly productive sequences in which Betts delivered under the greatest pressure. And the team is optimistic that it has given a taste of what lies ahead.

“He knows it’s most important this time of year,” hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc said. “He just has to trust himself, trust the work, trust the process. And if he can do that, it’s ultimately just a matter of time where he ends up in the postseason.”

“I know I go through those phases,” Mookie Betts said of his hitting. “But I promise you, it’s not for lack of trying.”

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

The 400 at-bats Betts reportedly took in the batting cage last week may have been somewhat glossed over.

“But there were maybe a few hundred,” Van Scoyoc said. “Something like that.”

That was on September 26, before the Dodgers' potential win over the Padres. Entering the game, Betts was hitless in his last eight at-bats. The night before, he had caught the eye of all four infielders.

“I know I’m going through these spells,” Betts said later. “But I promise you, it’s not for lack of trying.”

This has been Betts' mindset since the start of this season as he takes on one new task after another.

He moved to shortstop in late spring training, a drastic defensive move that resulted in Betts spending hours almost daily training grounders in pregame drills. Then, after missing nearly two months with a broken hand, there was a rehab process to get back on the field. At that point, he returned to right field and was moved from the starting spot to No. 2 in the batting order.

Betts' production had been through the roof the entire time. When he broke his hand on June 16, Betts was batting .304 and ranked fifth in the majors in wins above replacement (just ahead of Ohtani). During his first month after his injury (from August 12 to September 10), Betts was one of the hottest hitters in the majors, batting .314 with 26 RBIs in 27 games.

Both times, coaches noticed a balance in Betts' mindset.

“Playing shortstop helped him distract and not think too much about his swings,” Van Scoyoc said.

After his two-month stint on the injured list – which effectively eliminated Betts from MVP contention – first base coach Clayton McCullough experienced a similar effect.

“This year you're not going to reach the career high that you possibly could, just because of the time you lost,” McCullough said. “Now it's just, 'I want to do it right.' Because what really matters is what's going to happen in October and that I'm in top shape.'”

For Betts — whose casual demeanor is sometimes interpreted as a lack of passion — it created the kind of environment in which his joy is greatest and most obvious.

“I really enjoy getting better and getting my brain more into a training mentality,” he said. “Then when it comes time to play the game, I can just turn off my brain and trust that my training has prepared me for it.”

That's why, when he lost his best swing in the final weeks of the season, he went to the cages before the series finale against the Padres and didn't leave until his mechanics were better.

“He loves to work. He's going to do whatever he can to figure some things out,” Roberts said the day after Betts ended his pregame practice session with a convincing two-hit performance in the Dodgers' decisive win. “So yeah, it just shows how much he cares. He wants to be great.”

Whether this all leads to a great postseason remains to be seen.

The two-time World Series champion has not been able to escape the pressure created by his recent stumbles in October and has been addressing them from the first day of spring training.

“I have to come and show up when it matters,” he then said.

Roberts and his coaching staff have also stressed the need recently, knowing opponents could surround Ohtani if ​​Betts doesn't hit well behind him.

“He compartmentalizes it,” Van Scoyoc said of Betts’ previous postseason failures. “Like everyone else, he’s realistic. He knows he's going to have a bad streak. But obviously he really wants to be great and perform. And he knows it’s most important at this time of year.”

A few weeks ago, Betts acknowledged that this pressure is increasing on a team like the Dodgers and agreed with whether it takes away from the joy of a season's journey.

“The expectations placed on us make it the end of the world” if we don’t play well, he said. “If you’re not flawless, you’re going to be completely criticized… But that’s what we signed up for.”

That toll has apparently worn Betts down at this point in other years, as the rigors of 162 games in the summer can be wiped out by a single bad series in the fall. This year, however, Betts spent more time getting lost in his process.

“Going into the cage, trying to find the perfect swing, or going out and working on defense and trying to find the perfect way to defend a ground ball or whatever – that's where I kind of get lost,” he said. “That’s what I definitely enjoy.”

And the Dodgers hope that this will be the recipe for success.

“He looks forward to another opportunity to perform in the postseason,” Roberts said. “Obviously we’ll all be judged by the postseason. And that’s part of it.”