Dodgers: 3 reasons Mookie Betts will outperform Mike Trout this season

Why Betts will outperform Trout: Incentive

For all of the stats or sabermetrics we could use to project why Mookie Betts could outperform Mike Trout this year, we start with something a bit old-fashioned: incentive.

Betts has a lot riding on the 2020 season. He is on a new team where he is trying to find a place among a lineup that includes the 2019 National League MVP in Cody Bellinger. And while the market conditions have dramatically changed since he was traded from Boston, Betts is looking to prove why he is worth a contract on par with the one Mike Trout recently received with the Angels.

Do these things add up to incentive or pressure? Perhaps Betts will squeeze the bat too tight and struggle to impress his new fanbase in Los Angeles. But I don’t think so. The former Boston Red Sox is used to playing under the bright lights and scrutiny of Fenway, which you could argue is the most intense environment in all of baseball. He won’t wither playing in empty stadiums across America.

Trout already signed his lifetime contract. He has proven everything there is to prove in the game. That is not to suggest he is unmotivated to continue his path of greatness toward the Hall-of-Fame, but perhaps the extra motivation in front of Betts will prove the difference in pushing him to the top of the game once again.