Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger top MLB jersey sales since World Series

A decent glimpse into the popularity of winning the World Series can be seen with a look at the most popular MLB jersey sales since the end of October. Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger have the two highest-selling jerseys from the official MLB online shop, and the Dodgers have four of the top 13 players.

Clayton Kershaw ranked fifth and Corey Seager was 13th, but perhaps the most surprising was Kiké Hernández ranking ninth. Hernández likely gets a boost from both his postseason heroics as well as joining a new team with a rabid fanbase, so he had both Dodgers and Red Sox fans purchasing his jerseys in the last five months.

Per Chris Cotillo of MassLive, Hernández called his jersey ranking “mind-blowing” and “I don’t know how that happened.”

MLB counts jersey sales from any team, so a Betts Red Sox jersey sold since the end of the World Series adds to his total, though perhaps those are less likely than say Francisco Lindor, who ranked eighth, and Nolan Arenado at No. 11, both of whom were traded this offseason.

The popularity of winning the World Series can be seen thanks to jersey rankings unveiled by MLB in the final weekend of the 2020 season. Betts topped that list as well, but the other Dodgers now ranked all saw jumps:

• Bellinger: from 6th on September 25 to 2nd now
• Kershaw: from 9th to 5th
• Hernández: from outside of top 20 to 9th
• Seager: from outside of top 20 to 13th

Links & notes

• In Bill Plunkett’s season preview at the Orange County Register, Roberts said, “I think this year it’s 29 other opponents where in years past it’s been 29 other opponents plus the years of not winning the World Series. That was our opponent each year.”
• The Effectively Wild podcast’s slate of MLB previews reached the Dodgers on Wednesday, with The Athletic’s Pedro Moura the guest for that segment.
• Jon Weisman in his Dodger Thoughts preview of Dodgers position players says, “I’m all in on Corey Seager.”
• So is Dylan Hernandez at the Los Angeles Times, who says, “Mookie Betts may be the face of the Dodgers and Fernando Tatis Jr. the face of baseball, but Seager will be the MVP of the National League this year.”
• In his preview of the National League for Five Thirty Eight, Neil Paine says of the Dodgers, “this remains the most talented team in baseball by a decent margin.”
• Among Jeff Passan’s 2021 predictions at ESPN is the Dodgers beating the Yankees in the World Series.
• In addition to Clayton Kershaw starting on Thursday, other former Dodgers pitchers starting on opening day include Hyun-jin Ryu (Toronto), Nathan Eovaldi (Boston), Kenta Maeda (Minnesota), Yu Darvish (San Diego), and Zack Greinke (Houston). Hat tip to Weisman for pointing this out.