Dave Roberts wants struggling Mookie Betts to adopt a new mindset

Playoff baseball is stressful enough without feeling like you're letting down your team and an entire fan base with every empty hit. That's why Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled right fielder Mookie Betts aside for a little chat during Monday's practice at Petco Park.

In Saturday night's 7-5 National League Division Series-opening win over the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium, Betts struck out three times, struck out and walked three times – two of them intentionally – and went hitless at second with one strikeout in four at-bats :10 loss in Game 2 on Sunday night.

The veteran right fielder who played on both sides of the ball during the team's path to the 2020 World Series title. He is now 3-for-44 (.068) in his last 12 playoff games since Game 4 of the 2021 NL Championship Series, including an 0-for-11 slump in last season's three-game NLDS win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Roberts believed Betts, who turned 32 on Monday, had good at-bats in Game 1, but he could sense Betts gripping the bat a little tighter in Game 2.

“I don’t know if it’s fear or the pressure of past performance starting to take hold, but I don’t want that to happen,” Roberts said. “I believe he will come to life. I know he has the talent. He's obviously not afraid of the situation.

“So for me it’s more about just going out there and working your tail off. It’s up to all of us to make sure he has a good headspace to go out and compete and not worry too much about every single shot.”

Roberts wanted to remind Betts on the eve of Tuesday night's Game 3 at Petco Park to keep his eyes on the road and stop staring in the rearview mirror.

“The fact is, you can’t change the number of final X postseason games,” Roberts said. “I understand the stress that might be on a player, but everyone is just worried about the moment and how best to prepare mentally for (Tuesday) night and the first at-bat. “So that's basically going to be my message .

“When you look at (great) postseason performers, it’s not like they exceeded their regular-season career stats. What they did (in the playoffs) is what they did in the regular season. But on this stage they are considered (great) postseason players. So in this particular case, we just expect Mookie to be the same player as he was in the regular season. And that’s it.”

Betts, who spoke with mental health coach Brent Walker for several minutes on the field during Monday night's practice, took no solace in the fact that he was robbed of a home run when Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar jumped over the short left field wall and into the crowd, to catch his fly ball in the first inning on Sunday night.

“It’s an out,” Betts said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a groundout, a flyout or a strikeout, it’s an out. It’s all the same.”

Betts, an eight-time All-Star and the 2018 American League Most Valuable Player with the Boston Red Sox, said he got 300-400 at-bats in the batting cage on Monday, “and I still have more to do,” he said. “It is what it is.”

Is Betts at a point where he needs to turn off his brain and let his instincts and skills run?

“No,” he said. “If I turn off my brain, it will get worse. I have to keep trying.”

Roberts acknowledged that the narrative surrounding Betts' post-game struggles could weigh on the player.

“Yeah, I think so, but that’s natural,” Roberts said. “Certainly there was a lot of talk about it. He mentioned it himself. For me it's two games and (six) official at-bats. I don't want him to get involved in this. It’s important for him to just be himself.”

Betts said it's nearly “impossible” not to let past postseasons factor into this one, “especially when you're doing your job but asking for it, so there's no way out,” he said.

“The world knows. It's not like it's a secret. I know. Nobody tells me anything I don't already know. No one can be harder on me than myself. The only thing I can really do is look forward. I know it's there. …I'm trying, man. That’s all I can say.”

Betts spent four and a half seasons as the Dodgers' leadoff hitter before suffering a fracture to his left hand when he was hit by a pitch in mid-June. Shohei Ohtani moved into first place in Betts' absence and scored so well that he remained there when Betts returned in early August and Betts moved to second place.

But Roberts said Monday he wasn't yet considering moving Betts back to the starting position, where Betts might feel more comfortable and get more fastballs to hit with Ohtani batting behind him.

“I just don’t think scoring first or second is going to change much at this point,” Roberts said. “I think Shohei is in a really good spot. We scored a lot of runs this year. And I just don’t think the situation requires that after two or three games.”

Who's on first?

First baseman Freddie Freeman, who was removed from the game in the sixth inning Sunday night with right ankle discomfort, received treatment Monday and did not practice on the field with the team Monday night.

Roberts said he expects the left-handed Freeman, who had two hits and stole a base on his badly sprained ankle in Game 1, to play in Game 3 on Tuesday night, but he could rest Freeman in Game 4 if the Padres start left-handed hitters Martin Perez.

Roberts said he had not considered cutting Freeman from the NLDS roster, a move that would prevent Freeman from playing in the NL Championship Series if the Dodgers advance.