Mookie Betts lost nearly 20 pounds because of a virus then hit three homers in his first five games.

The Dodgers may actually be better than advertised given their rotation depth. Clayton Kershaw and Shohei Ohtani haven’t pitched yet and it hasn’t mattered.

If this team can’t give baseball the first repeat champion since the 1998-2000 Yankees, maybe it can’t be done.

∗ The rise of the National League West: The Padres started 7-0, allowing only 11 runs and that was with Yu Darvish on the injured list.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hasn’t been the same hitter since his PED suspension in 2022 but is off to a good start and stealing bases again.

The Giants are playing well despite a lineup-wide slump. Strong relief pitching has been the difference along with the presence of Buster Posey as president of baseball operations.

The Diamondbacks signed second baseman Ketel Marte to an extension after spending big on Corbin Burnes. Like the Padres, they don’t fear the Dodgers.

∗ Torpedo bats: Too much is being made of the differently shaped bats because the Yankees beat up on the Brewers for two days in a row.

The torpedo bats were around last season and Abraham Toro was one of the Red Sox players who tried them in spring training this year.

Alex Bregman had it right when he said it’s the player, not the bat.

∗ The White Sox (for now) can pitch: Chicago’s rotation had a 2.18 ERA in its first six games and a 28-inning streak of not allowing an earned run.

That’s not going to last, but it speaks to the impact Brian Bannister has had as senior adviser to pitching.

∗ The demise of the Braves: An 0-7 start is shocking for the Braves, a playoff team for seven seasons in a row.

Manager Brian Snitker has suggested this could be his last season. Then the team was blindsided by Jurickson Profar being suspended for 80 games for PEDs after signing a three-year, $42 million deal.

None of their regulars have hit and the bullpen has struggled.

A bargain?

If Kristian Campbell becomes simply an above-average player, the Red Sox will have a tremendous bargain after signing him for eight seasons and $60 million.

If he becomes an All-Star, Campbell will be seen as wildly underpaid.

But look at it from the point of view of a 22-year-old.

Campbell was not drafted out of high school and redshirted at Georgia Tech in 2022, deemed not ready to contribute to an ACC team. He had a terrific 2023 season but was only a fifth-round draft pick, 132nd overall.

Kristian Campbell is a rookie.John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

The Sox liked him, but only to a point. They drafted two other shortstops — Nazzan Zanetello and Antonio Anderson — before selecting Campbell.

Less than 18 months later, Campbell was offered $60 million. He elected to secure his financial future and that of his family.

“Everything that’s happened is life-changing,” Campbell said.

Could he have made more by waiting? Maybe. But nothing is guaranteed. Look at Brayan Bello and Ceddanne Rafaela.

Bello signed for $55 million in spring training last season and had an adjusted ERA of 96. That was 51st out of 58 qualified pitchers in the majors.

Rafaela signed for $50 million and had a .664 OPS, 117th out of 129 qualified hitters. He’s only 24, but has one of the worst chase percentages in the game.

It’s too early to say the Sox regret those deals. You can bet Bello and Rafaela don’t regret them in the slightest.

Had Campbell gone year to year, he would not have been eligible for arbitration until after the 2027 season. Under the terms of his contract, he’ll have made $8 million by then.

Campbell’s contract also includes team options for 2033 ($19 million) and 2034 ($21 million).

He also could earn bonuses based on where he finishes in the Most Valuable Player voting. As much as $2 million for winning with $1 million for second or third, $500,000 for fourth or fifth and $250,000 for sixth-10th.

As Campbell rises, Zanetello was ranked only 37th among the team’s prospects by SoxProspects.com and Anderson isn’t ranked in their top 60.

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

* It should not be a surprise that Rafael Devers had such a terrible start to the season.

He had only 15 plate appearances in five Grapefruit League games then didn’t accompany the team to Mexico for the two exhibition games there.

Devers took live batting practice in spring training for the first time on Feb. 26 and didn’t get into an actual game until March 15. Then he played every other day through March 23.

He never played back-to-back days or played on the road, even 5 miles away against the Twins.

Yes, Devers took dozens of “live” at-bats on the practice fields against teammates or minor league pitchers. But that only goes so far in replicating the feel of playing in a spring training game against major league pitchers who are preparing for the season.

Devers could have insisted he play more Grapefruit League games and he didn’t. The Sox would have pressed him to play more often and they didn’t.

That’s what led to opening the season 0 for 21 with 15 strikeouts before he finally got a hit.

Both Devers and Alex Cora insisted he would be fine with the schedule the team came up with. Lesson learned.

It also didn’t make much sense to announce in April that Devers will not play third base this season.

Why decide so soon that you will limit your roster flexibility for the remainder of the season? Devers is no Adrian Beltré at third base but he certainly could play there for a few days if Alex Bregman gets banged up.

It also would benefit Trevor Story physically to have an occasional game as the DH. Playing Devers at third and Bregman at shortstop would work for a handful of games over the course of the season.

Bregman played 65 games at shortstop for the Astros in 2019 and graded out as above average defensively.

* Triston Casas has been moving better at first base this season. The coaches made an adjustment in his pre-pitch setup, having Casas stand more upright instead of in the hunching down like he had been doing.

The change has given him a quicker first step toward a batted ball.

Now the Sox need to work on Casas’s decision-making on balls between the mound and first base.

* Throughout spring training, Cora spoke about the need to turn double plays. The Sox had 117 last season, more than 11 other teams but still below the league average of 123.

They were well-above the league average the previous three seasons.

That had a lot to do with Story missing most of the season and the Sox using 11 different starting second basemen.

“We’ve got to be better,” Cora said last month.

The Sox had 14 in their first eight games as Story worked well with Campbell and Bregman started five from third base.

In the age of advanced statistics, some simple ones can be useful, too.

* Masataka Yoshida is going to collect $18.6 million a year through 2027 no matter what happens. But he didn’t come to America to play catch, either.

Yoshida is throwing out to 110 feet and the Sox won’t be able to delay his minor league rehab assignment for much longer. That starts a 20-day window, then they would have to put him back on the roster.

A backup lefthanded-hitting DH is not what the Sox need. Or another lefthanded hitter, period.

It may not be in Boston, but Yoshida can help somebody as a hitter. He has a .775 OPS over 248 major league games and that was with playing injured much of last season.

At some point the Sox may have to admit defeat and pick up a big chunk of his remaining salary to trade Yoshida.

That also could happen with Story eventually as Marcelo Mayer bangs on the door in Triple A.

Etc.

The St. Petersburg city council voted to fund repairs of Tropicana Field that should be complete in time for next season.

The city was contractually obligated to repair the building and once that is complete, the Rays will be legally bound to play there from 2026-28.

The Trop will get a new Teflon-coated fiberglass roof in addition to the many interior repairs that are needed because of the water damage done by Hurricane Milton in October.

The Rays pulled out of a $1.3 billion project to build a new ballpark adjacent to Tropicana Field last month. The team then proposed a $400 million renovation of the stadium in return for playing there another 10 years. Those funds would have come from the city and Pinellas County.

That was rejected. So where the Rays will play in 2029 is anybody’s guess at this point.

Major League Baseball has indicated that any expansion plans are on hold until the Athletics and Rays solve their ballpark issues.

The Athletics are planning to spend three seasons in West Sacramento, Calif., as their new stadium is built in Las Vegas.

The Athletics — they insist Sacramento is not part of the team name — drew 12,119 fans to their first game at Sutter Health Park. That was a sellout in terms of the 10,624 fixed seats at the ballpark but below the capacity of 14,014 when standing room and berm seating is included.

The Rays are spending this season at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. They were 4-2 in their first homestand and sold out all six games. Capacity there is 10,046.

The Red Sox arrive for a three-game series April 14.

When the Rangers and Reds played last week, managers Bruce Bochy and Terry Francona had a combined 4,125 wins at the start of the series along with six World Series titles. Bochy went into the weekend only 19 wins away from passing Dusty Baker and Sparky Anderson for sixth place in history. He turns 70 April 16. “I still like being here,” Bochy said, patting the dugout bench before a game against the Red Sox earlier this season. “I get a lot of enjoyment out of it.” … The Royals see Carlos Estévez, who signed just before spring training, as their closer. He had 26 saves for the Angels and Phillies last season. But Lucas Erceg could have the job by the second half of the season given his high strikeout rate and overpowering fastball … When Cubs catcher Carson Kelly hit for the cycle on Monday, he was the first player in history to accomplish that feat in March and only the 17th catcher. The last catcher before Kelly was J.T. Realmuto in 2023. Before that it was George Kottaras of the Brewers in 2011 … Adam Ottavino opted out of his minor league contract with the Red Sox on March 23 after being told he would not make the team. The former Northeastern righthander left Fort Myers and drove across the state to Jupiter and worked out at the baseball facility owned by Eric Cressey, the director of player health and performance for the Yankees. When Devin Williams landed on the paternity list, Ottavino was signed on Tuesday and threw ⅔ scoreless innings that night then was designated for assignment on Friday when Williams returned. The Yankees also have former Red Sox infielder Pablo Reyes, who is their primary righthanded bat off the bench. Reyes played only 22 major league games last season and had a .451 OPS. You can expect Brian Cashman to find an upgrade … Luis Arraez was 0 for 13 to start the 2024 season but went on to win his third consecutive batting title. He was 0 for 16 this season, then 4 for 11 … Of the 20 most popular jerseys sold by Fanatics, six are Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani is first followed by Freddie Freeman (2), Mookie Betts (4), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (9), Clayton Kershaw (10), and Kiké Hernández (15). There are two Mets (Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor), two Yankees (Aaron Judge and Anthony Volpe) and two Padres (Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado) with one player each from the Phillies (Bryce Harper), Astros (Jose Altuve), Braves (Ronald Acuna Jr.), Reds (Elly De La Cruz), Orioles (Gunnar Henderson), Pirates (Paul Skenes), Rangers (Corey Seager), and Royals (Bobby Witt Jr.) … Credit to Drew Pomeranz. The 36-year-old former Red Sox lefthander hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2021 because of a series of injuries. But he’s with Triple A Tacoma hoping to show the Seattle Mariners enough to return to the big leagues … That sports betting is now legal in many states doesn’t change the rule that Pete Rose broke decades ago. But it’s not a great look for the game when the MLB Players Association cut a deal with Penn Entertainment to allow for the players’ names, images and likenesses to be used on ESPN Bet in the United States and theScore Bet in Canada in addition to 32 retail sports books in casinos. Telling the players not to bet on baseball then using their names to encourage people to bet on baseball is quite a slippery slope … Joe DePugh, who dies last week at 75, never played professional baseball. But he had a little piece of baseball history as the pitcher who “could throw that speedball by you, make you look like a fool” in the Bruce Springsteen song “Glory Days.” DePugh and Springsteen played youth baseball together growing up in Freehold, N.J. DePugh had a tryout with the Dodgers then went to work as a contractor and spent his later years in Vermont. He ran across Springsteen at a New Jersey bar back in 1973 and that became the genesis of the song … Happy birthday to Blaine Neal, who is 47. The righthanded reliever played eight games for the Red Sox in 2005 after being acquired from San Diego during spring training for outfielder Adam Hyzdu. Neale was on the Opening Day roster but allowed eight earned runs on 15 hits over eight innings in his first eight appearances and was designated for assignment. The Rockies claimed Neal off waivers. He appeared in 11 games for the Rockies in what proved to be his final stint in the majors. He pitched in the minors for the Pirates, Blue Jays, Tigers, and Indians through 2009. He has since worked for companies that build and equip laboratories.

Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @peteabe.

Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him @PeteAbe.