The Los Angeles Dodgers now have multiple MVP winners in their outfield, and the veteran one has some good advice for the new one.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts gave some insights on how teammate Cody Bellinger should approach the game now that he has an MVP trophy in his bag.
“Obviously opportunities come off the field,” said Betts, per Bill Plunkett of the OC Register. “Those are things that you can’t really control, you can’t do anything about. I think a lot of things change but it’s not because you go out and try to make them change. People change around you.
“You may feel a little more pressure because you were an MVP and now have to back it up,” the former Boston Red Sox star added. “But I think that’s all from other people … I think 95 per cent of it is outside your control. You guys will come in — and when I say you guys I mean the media — if I go 0 for 20, then it’s like, ‘Oh, he lost it.’ Instead of just — it’s baseball.”
Betts won AL MVP with Boston during his age-25 season in 2018 and saw his numbers dip a bit the following season with his batting average falling from .346 to .295 and his OPS going from 1.078 to .915. Bellinger will be entering his own follow-up season after winning NL MVP in 2019 as a 23-year-old.
Betts did at times express frustration with his play as reigning MVP, but he clearly feels that Bellinger just needs to keep things in perspective in 2020.
