Dave Roberts Makes Bold Mookie Betts Prediction That Could Impact Shohei Ohtani

Mookie Betts became a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop last season but it was accompanied by an unexpected drop off in production at the plate.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Betts maintained throughout 2025 there was not a correlation between the two. They instead argued that Betts coming down with a mysterious virus at the end of Spring Training is what zapped his power.

As Betts was enduring the worst offensive season of his career, he made a significant change with his mindset that further prioritized the team over personal statistics.

He did go on to have improved results to finish out the regular season and Betts hit safely in 11 of the Dodgers' 17 postseason games.

"Last year started off certainly different when we were in Tokyo, and how he was feeling, the weight loss and all that stuff," Roberts said this week.

"I think he had a great offseason. He's in a good headspace, the body is good. I think for me, it's just getting back to being who he is. I just think last year as an outlier offensive season. I'm not too concerned about Mookie at all."

Betts has expressed a similar sentiment, buoyed by confidence from "re-wiring my body to do what I wanted it to do."

Mookie Betts back to MVP candidate?

As the Dodgers head into the 2026 season with another star-studded roster that now includes Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz, Betts is expected to now bat third in the lineup.

Hitting between some order of Tucker and Freddie Freeman should presumably prove beneficial for Betts. But Roberts is confident in Betts on an individual basis and "absolutely" believes he can return to being an MVP-caliber player.

"I have no doubt abut it. The way he played shortstop last year, expecting him to be better offensively this year, he will be in the MVP conversation this year," Roberts said. "But, again, I think speaking for Mookie, his main goal is to help us win a championship.

"So I think whatever falls out from there, that will happen. I just want him to focus on being healthy, helping us win, and then whatever happens outside of that will happen."

Betts won the American League MVP Award with the Boston Red Sox in 2018, which was the same year he helped lead them to a World Series title by defeating the Dodgers. Betts has twice finished in second place for NL MVP--in 2020 and 2023--and otherwise garnered votes for fifth in 2022 and 13th in 2024 during his Dodgers career.

Of course, if Betts is to win the NL MVP Award, it would come at the expense of Shohei Ohtani. His Dodgers teammate has claimed four unaninmous MVPs in a row, with the first two coming in the AL.