GLENDALE, Ariz. — Four innings in October changed Will Klein’s life.
“It’s been great. Everyone’s been so receptive and loving and the fans, players, everyone alike, the community. It’s been great to feel that and be able to celebrate with everybody,” Klein said at DodgerFest in January as fans shouted his name and “Thank you, Will” for his four-inning effort in the 18-inning Game 3 of the World Series.
As Dodgers players take the field for spring workouts at Camelback Ranch, they trot through a tunnel of fans, cheering. Klein’s status as a World Series hero gets him a reception just below the top tier of Dodgers stars.
He’s used to it by now.
“I had a guy (during the offseason) tell me I look like myself one time,” said Klein, whose red hair and bushy beard are definitely a distinctive look. “I got a, ‘You really look like Will Klein.’ Like – thank you.”
An experience like Klein’s on the World Series stage could give him a different look.
“I’ve already seen the confidence in Will versus last year when we traded for him and he was unsure of himself, where now he has the respect of his teammates and he’s done it in the highest of leverage,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “You can’t manufacture that. You’ve got to live it and do it. Since he’s done it, I think he’s got a real confidence. I love the fact that he realizes, ‘Yeah, I can bank that. But I can also keep getting better.’ I’m excited to see where Will Klein goes from here.”
Celebrity aside, the challenge for Klein now is to follow his World Series heroics by establishing himself as a major-leaguer. Before last fall, Klein’s resume included just 22 big-league appearances scattered over two seasons with three teams (the Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners and Dodgers).
Acquired in a minor-league trade last June, Klein’s transformation might have begun even before the World Series. The Dodgers’ pitching development staff got Klein to change his slider grip and add a cutter to his pitch mix.
“The things they do inside (the organization) with pitch shapes and just talking about execution and stuff helps build your confidence, build your repertoire,” Klein said this spring. “So talking to those guys, making tweaks to different things, I feel like that really helped my pitches in general. That leads to results, good results build confidence, confidence leads to better pitches. So it’s a little circle that you get going.”
A tighter break to his slider and a consistent cutter he can throw for strikes were big developments for him after joining the Dodgers last season, Klein said. That could be more important going forward than his World Series success.
“Yeah, something like that, it’s easy to look back at it and say, ‘Hey, I can do that. I can go pitch this year,’” he said. “(You also can’t) take your foot off the gas – ‘I did that. It should be easy now.’ It’s still Major League Baseball. You’ve got to put in the work. But just knowing I did that last year I know I can go do this this year if I put the work in.”
MISSING MEN
With third baseman Max Muncy’s spring debut on Thursday, shortstop Mookie Betts is the last of the Dodgers’ front-line players to get in a game. Roberts said he doesn’t plan to play Betts before Sunday and it might not be until “early next week.”
Roberts said the late Cactus League start was “intentional” and a form of “load management” for Betts, who did not arrive early in camp like so many of the Dodgers’ position players did. (He was involved with the NBA All-Star Weekend activities in Los Angeles.)
“I wanted Mookie to start a little bit later as far as not getting into spring training ready to go, and kind of use spring training to build up given it’s six weeks,” Roberts said Thursday. “He’s building up nicely.”
Roberts said “we wanted him to ramp up differently” this year after devoting so much of his offseason last winter to his transition to shortstop.
Betts wasn’t alone in being sold on that slower approach this spring. The Dodgers had the oldest position player group in the majors last season and wanted those older players to take it easy this season since their spring training will be longer than it was the past two years (when they made overseas trips to start the season early)
“For a lot of us coming off back-to-back World Series, just trying to prioritize rest over the offseason,” Muncy said. “That was a conversation that was had with several people. It was kind of ‘Give your body as much rest as possible. We’ll start ramping up a little later than normal.’ As a result, we’re just not ready for the first week of games. But we’re still scheduled to get more than 50 at-bats which is definitely plenty to get ready for the season.”
ALSO
Hyeseong Kim hit a home run in Thursday’s Cactus League game and went 6 for 13 in four games. He will leave camp now and join Team Korea in preparations for the World Baseball Classic.
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