Latest news with #PlayaSounds
Forbes
5 days ago
- Sport
- Forbes
Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts On His Recent Batting Struggles: ‘It Gives You A New Perspective'
Mookie Betts knows this has been a rough year for him. The former AL MVP and eight-time All-Star is one of the greatest players of this generation. However, he's never gone through as rough of a season as he has this season. The 32-year-old star is batting a career-low .244 along with a .314 OBP and .370 slugging percentage. Betts recently went through the roughest stretch of his career, going 0-for-22 while snapping a five-game hitless streak. "I think it gives you just a new perspective on failure," says Betts in a one-on-one interview. "You don't really think 0-for-10 is the end of the world, but you go four months and you're hitting like this. It can't get much worse, you know? If it does get worse, at least you've been through something similar to kind of give you a blueprint to kind of get out of it." The veteran star has since been batting better, with .280/.321/.380 in the month of August. However, they are obviously still below his career batting averages of .290/.369/.512. It's worth noting that he's also dealt with a broken hand injury stemming from last season. That could be playing a major role in the struggles. "I will never forget the rest of my life these last four or five months, however long it's been," says Betts. I can really kind of apply it to life. It really taught me about life and going through the ups and downs, and really just kind of how to mentally handle whatever comes my way." Betts, who enlisted in the help of former Boston Red Sox teammate J.D. Martinez to help break out of his batting slump, says teammates and friends are key for batting through the struggles. However, the most important thing is "believing in yourself." As the Dodgers prepare to defend their World Series crown, they'll need the three-time World Series champ to do exactly that. "There's many, many avenues, but honestly, the most important thing is just believing and trusting yourself and being your own best friend," says Betts. "Other people are always going to cheer you up. But if you don't really believe in yourself, if you don't pump yourself up and be your own best friend, it's not going to really work. Nothing's really going to work." Betts is now in the midst of an eight-game hitting streak dating back to August 5 after enlisting in the help of his 2018 World Series champion teammate Martinez. "It really took me giving myself grace, being patient with myself, letting myself fail, in order for me to get to the right answer," says Betts. "Letting myself make the right or wrong answer over and over and over again. I went through a time where I was frustrated, getting frustrated with myself, and beating myself up. JD actually came in and kind of helped me, just helped me with grace and patience. That's what has kind of gotten me out of it." As Betts prepares to hopefully make another World Series run with the Dodgers, he's partnering with Corona for their "Playa Sounds" campaign. The commercial sees Betts get into the right headspace by listening to a mix of real MLB audio games while relaxing on the beach with a bottle of Corona next to him. Fans can visit Corona's Instagram page until Sep. 1 by commenting on the collaboration and enter for a chance to win two tickets to this year's World Series. "We all know Corona is a huge brand and something super dope to be a part of," says Betts. "We started with Playa sounds, and this is essentially just to get into the right frame of mind going into the postseason, coming down to the stretch. There's some big games now, so we worked together to create some sounds. We got to pick some sounds from some big hits that I've had in the postseason, and I was able to just put them into a soundtrack. That's kind of something that puts me in the zone, not too intense, but not too relaxed. But right in the middle, and just something to kind of listen to to get me ready." Betts says he doesn't have a strict routine before a game to get himself ready. He moreso takes things at a casual approach and wouldn't consider himself to be a superstitious player. He says he mainly just talks to teammates and people while remaining "in the moment." "Real simple," says Betts of his approach before a game. "There are a lot of superstitious people out there. I tried it. I really did try the headphones and lock in on the zone thing, but it just didn't really work for me."
Fox News
5 days ago
- Sport
- Fox News
Mookie Betts credits teammates, Dodgers faithful for supporting him through rough 2025 season
Los Angeles Dodgers eight-time All-Star Mookie Betts was recently candid about his struggles this season, saying that he feels his "season's over." "My season's kind of over," he told The Athletic this past weekend. "We're going to have to chalk that up for not a great season. But I can go out and help the boys win every night, do something, get an RBI, make a play, do something that — I'm going to have to shift my focus there." A production drought, especially for a player of Betts' caliber, can be tough on the psyche. However, what's helped his mindset has been the support from not just in the clubhouse, but those at Dodger Stadium and beyond. In fact, Dodgers fans recently orchestrated an ovation for Betts to show their appreciation and support. "I've never gotten an ovation from being bad," Betts told Fox News Digital, while also discussing how his mindset is helped through Corona's new "Playa Sounds," a first-of-its-kind soundtrack that fuses the iconic sounds of the ballpark and beach. "I've seen it, but never in a million years I thought I'd be the one to get one. But I was. "It's good knowing that even though I'm going through what I'm going through, I'm still embraced. It'd be very easy for them to just write me off and say, 'He's done, he's washed – x, y and z.' It would feel horrible. That would probably be really bad, probably wouldn't be great for the mental." Betts enters Wednesday's matchup against the Los Angeles Angels hitting .242/.313/.370 with a .682 OPS, 12 home runs and 53 RBI over 120 games. All of these marks are easily the worst of his career, to the point where he even acknowledged a potential stain on his Hall of Fame resume. However, while the 2018 AL MVP has been fighting the tribulations of the 2025 season, the support of a tight-knit Dodgers clubhouse has helped tremendously. "I think that's probably the most important outside of yourself," he said when asked about his teammates and coaching staff being behind him. "Just knowing that no matter what you do, good or bad, your boys got you. They're the ones who are with you literally every day. You're with these guys more than you're with your family. You're with these guys for eight months essentially. They know everything about you – more about you than really your family does. Knowing that they always got you, and they're fighting with you is just a beautiful thing. "It's just huge to have veterans who have kinda been through it, maybe not to the same extent I'm going through it – or maybe worse. To know that their perspective helps you, their support helps you, and no matter what, they're going to be there for you. That definitely helped move me along." Betts has been moving along well recently, owning a seven-game hit streak during his 12-for-30 (.400) stretch at the plate during that span. He had two doubles in that stretch, and more importantly, he launched his first homer in over a month on Aug. 8 against the Toronto Blue Jays. As Betts put it, "You don't want to turn on a mindset and then be in a different headspace than you've been playing for six, seven months." However, the intensity is only going up as the Dodgers are in a tight NL West race with the San Diego Padres tied atop the division entering play on Wednesday. As defending World Series champions, the Dodgers obviously want to defend the title entering October. It's uncharted territory for Betts, but knowing he has the team and city of Los Angeles behind him is, perhaps, helping him turn the corner at just the right time with the postseason coming into view. ENTERING FLOW STATE WITH CORONA As Betts works his way forward, having a tranquil, yet intense, mindset is key, especially when the postseason comes around. Betts helped Corona, the official "cerveza" of MLB, to create "Playa Sounds," selecting specific moments from the postseason to pair with calming beach sounds that helps him enter that "flow state." "I was able to pick some moments from big swings, big hits, big catches in the postseason, and then you match them with the beach sounds. Those waves crashing, it just puts you right in the middle where you're ready for anything intense, but you're also relaxed in order to be able to do whatever it is," Betts explained. "Because you don't want to be too intense when you go into these intense moments – you don't want to fight fire with fire. So, I really feel like those sounds put you right in between. "It really has helped and puts me in a good mindset."
