Mookie Betts talks about the one aspect of his game that he wants to improve on

With eight All-Star caps, seven Silver Slugger awards, six Gold Gloves and three World Series titles, Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts is one of the most accomplished players in the big league.

Making up one of the most feared top orders in all of the big leagues alongside Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, one would be hard pressed to find any weaknesses in Betts' game, both offensively and defensively.

However, in an interview with The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, which was released on Thursday, Betts talked about one aspect of his game he is still working hard to improve on: his bat speed.

"I have a baseline of numbers as far as bat speed that I try and hit throughout the day to make sure I’m moving fast enough and ready for a game. I could not get the bat to those numbers," Betts said.

"My bat speed, even fully healthy, is already below average. Now you take off 20 pounds (after the illness Betts suffered early in the season) and it’s even worse. I’m like, 'Man, I’ve got to do whatever it takes to get the barrel going.'"

Los Angeles Dodgers v Miami Marlins - Source: Getty

Mookie Betts discusses hard work he put in during offseason to get used to playing shortstop

Mookie Betts was tasked with playing shortstop in 2025. In an interview with MLB Network Radio in February, Betts talked about the gruelling work he put in day in, day out behind the scenes to help him feel right at home in his new position.

"There was a lot of physical components [I had to get used to], I would say mostly physical," Betts said. "I had to fix the physical before I could fix the mental, just because I had to understand what I was doing. ... I mean we were out there [training for] two, three, four hours sometimes."

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Betts has appeared to look comfortable in his new role. The Dodgers boast the joint-best record in all majors, alongside the Detroit Tigers (25-13).

As the Dodgers look to win the World Series again in 2025, fans will be hoping Betts can continue to show steady improvement.

About the author

Raghav Mehta is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda awaiting results for a Bachelor's in Journalism from Delhi University. He enjoys highlighting the key battles between players at different stages of the game and analyzing the decisive moments upon which they hinge.

One of Raghav's favorite moments, which underscores this, was the Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout clash in the 2023 WBC, where two of baseball's best players faced off against each other in the 9th inning. With the score 3-2 to Japan, Shohei eventually got the strikeout, which was absolute cinema.

Raghav is a Baltimore Orioles fan and is enjoying watching such an exciting young team compete at the top in a very competitive division.

Raghav has loved watching sports for as long as he can remember and realized he was pretty decent at writing his thoughts down at around the age of 14. Combining the two meant he had something he would enjoy doing every day, and he had identified that well before going to college.

Aside from work, Raghav enjoys playing sports, working out and watching movies.

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Edited by Ribin Peter