PHOENIX — Halfway through a grueling and frustrating season, Mookie Betts knew he had to change his mentality.

Betts’ offensive numbers slid last August to lows he had never seen. Slumps are inevitable in the major leagues, even for a seven-time Silver Slugger, but this lull was something different. On Aug. 8, when Betts cracked his first home run in more than 30 days in a 5-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, he also declared the end of his year.

“My season’s kind of over,” Betts said then. “We’re going to have to chalk that up as not a great season.”

For Betts, the focus was no longer about how the stats on the back of his baseball card would read. Instead, it became about producing in different ways: situational hitting, moving a runner from first to third, driving in a run on a fly ball would all suffice, as long as it benefited the team.

It was the only way Betts could mentally make it through the season. It also changed how he’s preparing for this year — one in which he “expects” to return to an MVP-caliber player. Betts won the award in 2018 and has finished second three times, including as recently as 2023.

“I learned a lot about myself,” he said Sunday afternoon at Camelback Ranch, shortly after playing in his first game of the spring. “I learned about how I operate. I was able to get in the right headspace and sustain the right headspace. And once I was able to get in the right headspace and stay there, I haven’t been searching.”

As advertised: Mookie Betts makes his Cactus League debut this afternoon, batting third. Pretty likely at this point we’ll see Ohtani-Tucker-Betts-Freeman at the top of the lineup come the regular season.

— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) March 1, 2026

Betts’ slow play into spring action is deliberate. Several factors contributed to last year’s dramatic decline. Betts spent the winter transitioning to shortstop full-time for the first time in his career. He started the season severely ill, when a virus zapped his strength and caused him to shed nearly 20 pounds. His production never rebounded, despite months of futile attempts. It led to a spiral of overworking.

“That’s the first time I think any of us have seen him struggle like that,” manager Dave Roberts said.

If there’s a silver lining to those struggles, it’s that Betts’ improved mindset ushered in a new approach as he enters his 13th season.

“I was upset, until I was able to help the team, until I was able to help the boys,” Betts said. “Then I was fine. But before that, I was really upset. Not with the numbers, per se, but not being able to help. Not doing my job, carrying my weight. So once I was able to do stuff, especially later on in the season, I was able to just kinda take a step back and say, ‘You did pretty good.’

“(Last year) just got to a point where there’s nothing really more you can do,” he added. “I mean, what am I gonna do, work harder? Obviously, it wasn’t working. You can say work smarter, sure. But I promise you I would have if I knew.”

Betts started his offseason program later than usual. Until Sunday, he had spent all spring on the back fields. He went 0-for-2 with a run scored in his Cactus League debut, but said he liked the swings he took — proof of his relaxed mindset. Betts will be back in the Dodgers lineup Monday and is slated for three at-bats against the Colorado Rockies. The team will ramp him up from there. The priority, Betts said, is keeping it simple.

“I know it sounds real cliche or whatever, but just going back to the basics and building it back up,” Betts said. “I haven’t done it in a while. Today was the first day. But we’ll see how it goes.”

Betts will be the Dodgers’ starting shortstop on Opening Day, and thanks to the addition of Kyle Tucker, he’ll likely have a new spot in the batting order. Roberts plans to hit Betts third this year — down one place from the No. 2 spot he occupied for most of the 2025 season, even while slumping. All the manager is concerned about is keeping Betts healthy. The rest, he believes, will fall in line.

Roberts isn’t the only one. Refreshed, refocused and ready for a rebound, Betts’ new approach has him optimistic.

“I haven’t felt this way in a long time,” Betts said. “So the way I feel now — I’m healthy, swing is in a really good spot, head is in a really good spot. I haven’t had any bad days in the cage. Haven’t had any bad days in BP. Usually by now, I would have taken a thousand swings trying to fix stuff and get game-ready. Now I’m just cruising – cruising and ready to go.”