Mookie Betts is back in the Dodgers lineup after five weeks on the injured list with a strained right oblique. He went 1-for-5 batting second on Monday night against the Giants in his first game back. The Dodgers lost 9-3. None of that matters. What matters is that the most important player in their lineup not named Shohei Ohtani is healthy again.
Betts went down on April 5 against the Washington Nationals when he felt pain in his lower back while running the bases. The diagnosis was an oblique strain, the timeline was vague, and the Dodgers spent the next month managing his rehab without rushing him back. Now he is here. The lineup looks different.
Dave Roberts has already said the team will not play Betts every single day right out of the gate. The plan is two days on, one day off, then two of the next three. Smart approach. Oblique injuries are notorious for lingering and reaggravating, and the Dodgers do not need Betts at full strength in May. They need him at full strength in October.
The Dodgers had been getting by without him. Tommy Edman has been solid filling in at shortstop. Hyeseong Kim has flashed potential. Andy Pages has hit the ball hard. The lineup has functioned. But Betts at the top of the order changes the whole math. He gets on base for Freddie Freeman and Ohtani. He plays elite defense at shortstop. He is one of the best baseball minds in the sport.
The bigger question is whether Betts can sustain his typical production in his second year as a full-time shortstop. He moved off second base last year to accommodate Gavin Lux and ended up taking over short for stretches. The defense has been fine, but the wear and tear of the position is real. Five weeks on the IL with an oblique injury might be the first warning sign that the position change is taking a physical toll.
At 33 years old, Betts is no longer in his physical prime. He is still a great player, still a legitimate MVP candidate when healthy, but the volume of games he can play at peak performance is going to start dropping. The Dodgers have to manage him accordingly, which is exactly what Roberts is doing.
The rehab assignment was brief. Two games at Triple-A Oklahoma City. Eleven innings in the field. Two hits in five at-bats with a walk. Enough to confirm the oblique was healed, not enough to disrupt his timing too badly. Now the real test begins, which is whether he can handle major league pitching after a five-week layoff.
The first game back was forgettable from a results standpoint, but Betts looked comfortable in the box. The swing was there. The bat speed looked normal. The defense was fine. There is no reason to think he is going to need an extended ramp-up period at the plate.
For the rest of the National League, the Dodgers just got significantly more dangerous. They were already the favorites to win the NL pennant. Adding Betts back to the top of the lineup makes them a clear cut above everyone else, and that is before you factor in Ohtani’s pitching dominance.
The Dodgers are going to be the team to beat in October. Everyone knew that already. Mookie Betts coming back from the IL just makes the rest of the league’s job that much harder. The defending champions look ready to defend, and the path to Los Angeles in the World Series goes through a healthy Mookie Betts.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
