{"id":629077,"date":"2026-03-18T00:34:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T00:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/629077\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T00:34:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T00:34:23","slug":"how-mookie-betts-embraced-yoshinobu-yamamotos-training-methods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/629077\/","title":{"rendered":"How Mookie Betts embraced Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s training methods"},"content":{"rendered":"

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> <\/p>\n

PHOENIX \u2014 After a few days away, Dodgers<\/a> shortstop Mookie Betts<\/a> returned to Camelback Ranch over the weekend, now a father of three after his wife, Brianna, gave birth.<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old Betts said earlier in camp he was looking to ease into spring training<\/a> ahead of his 13th major league season in an effort to turn the page from a career-worst statistical year in 2025. There have been encouraging signs as he\u2019s hitting .316 in Cactus League play, which includes a home run in Sunday\u2019s split-squad win over the Chicago Cubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to get better,\u201d Betts said. \u201cI\u2019m not content with being where I\u2019m at. I want to continue to get better in life and everything, and you know, be able to kind of teach my son how to be great. You know, I\u2019ve got to go through it first. When you\u2019re open-minded, there\u2019s endless possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Betts kept an open mind when he first learned of teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a>\u2019s unique workout routine, which includes javelin throwing, yoga, and working with personal trainer Osamu Yada. Betts credits his improved defense at shortstop to the new training methods that he\u2019s adopted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not fully in his whole routine,\u201d Betts said of Yada, who is often referred to as Yada Sensei. \u201cBut I wake up every morning and do my stretch routine that Sensei showed me, throwing the javelins every day. I think throwing javelins is the reason why I can make a play in the hole like that and throw it in the air on a line. I\u2019m really grateful for Yoshi and Sensei, because they have definitely changed my perspective, changed my life, changed my game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Betts graded as a below-average defender in his first season at the shortstop position in 2024, posting a minus-6 in Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-3 in Outs Above Average. Last season, he saw a sizable improvement, leading MLB shortstops in DRS (plus-17) and placing in the top-third in OAA (plus-6).<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t hard for Betts to look at Yamamoto and think that the Japanese superstar may have been onto something.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I mean, Yoshi came over and [got] $300 million, and he hadn\u2019t even thrown a pitch over here,\u201d Betts said. \u201cSo, I\u2019m pretty sure he does something right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Betts has yet to see the workouts translate offensively, but expects that to come in due time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said eventually I\u2019ll feel where it helps me hitting, but I haven\u2019t gotten to that point yet,\u201d Betts said. \u201cI think he should be back, so you\u2019ll see us back working, and eventually I\u2019ll get it, but he said it will take a little time.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Betts believes he\u2019s found an easy fix that should return him to the MVP-caliber player he had been for close to a decade. Betts says he lost 10 mph in bat speed last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the most important part is now that I think I\u2019m 178 [pounds] now, almost 180, so I\u2019m able to just have speed,\u201d Betts said. \u201cWhen I lost all the weight, I was down 10 mph in speed. You\u2019ve got guys throwing 100 mph with a slow bat, it\u2019s going to be hard to do. It\u2019s not an excuse, but it\u2019s a fact. So, now I\u2019ve got my speed back, I don\u2019t have to hurry up and make decisions so fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a>: \u201cI like where he\u2019s at physically. He looks stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

A stomach illness prompted Betts to lose 15 to 20 pounds last spring, putting him behind the eight-ball, and he never quite caught up after that.<\/p>\n

\u201c[I was] down 10 mph in bat speed,\u201d Betts said. \u201cDo you know how hard it is for somebody that weighs 160 [pounds] to gain bat speed, to gain strength and play a game all at the same time during the season? It\u2019s tough to do. I tried it. I failed at it. But we\u2019re in a new spot now, and we\u2019ll try to stay here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> PHOENIX \u2014 After a few days away, Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts returned to Camelback Ranch over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2401],"tags":[80702,5,136,63968,14433,39,19196,80703,20515,843,59,4280,4,1526,10555,61409,80705,2332,12138,80704,313],"class_list":{"0":"post-629077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-milwaukee-brewers","8":"tag-33-year-old-betts","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-brewers","11":"tag-cactus-league-play","12":"tag-camelback-ranch","13":"tag-dodgers","14":"tag-first-season","15":"tag-javelin-throwing","16":"tag-last-season","17":"tag-milwaukee","18":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","19":"tag-milwaukeebrewers","20":"tag-mlb","21":"tag-mookie-betts","22":"tag-mph","23":"tag-pound","24":"tag-sensei","25":"tag-shortstop","26":"tag-speed","27":"tag-training-method","28":"tag-yoshinobu-yamamoto"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116247374369338481","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}