Mookie Betts is back. He is also still hurt. Both of those things are true at the same time, which is exactly the kind of situation the Dodgers were trying to avoid.
Betts returned to the Los Angeles lineup Monday night after a five-week absence with a right oblique injury. He went 1-for-5 with a single and a strikeout in a loss to the San Francisco Giants. The hit was a good sign. The fact that he is in the lineup at all is a relief for a Dodgers team that has been managing through injuries all season.
Then came the complication. Betts felt soreness in his oblique during batting practice a few days after his return. The Dodgers backed off. Manager Dave Roberts said publicly that the team will approach his return cautiously and that he will not play every day right out of the gate.
The plan now is staggered. Betts plays Tuesday. He gets Wednesday off. He plays Thursday if everything feels right. That is not the kind of usage pattern a team typically draws up for one of its best players, but the Dodgers have been around this rodeo enough to know that pushing too hard now means losing him for longer later.
The oblique injury happened on April 4 while Betts was rounding the bases at Nationals Park. Oblique injuries are tricky. They limit rotational power. They affect every swing and every throw. The temptation to push through them is real, and the cost of pushing through is usually a setback that sets the timeline back even further.
The Dodgers have been doing damage control all year. Blake Snell missed time after one start. Max Fried is dealing with elbow issues in New York. Multiple other arms have been on and off the IL. The bullpen has been picking up the slack. The offense has been good but not great. Getting Betts back at full strength is the single most important thing the Dodgers can do for their championship odds.
That is why the cautious approach makes sense even if it is frustrating for fans who want to see Betts in the lineup every night. The Dodgers are not playing for May. They are playing for October. A healthy Betts in the playoffs is worth more than an aggravated Betts in the regular season.
Betts himself has been one of the most consistent producers in baseball over the past decade. He plays multiple positions. He hits for power. He hits for average. He gets on base. He runs the bases well. He defends. The complete package is what makes the Dodgers offense work, and the absence of that package has been felt.
The bigger question is whether oblique injuries are going to be a recurring issue. Once a player tweaks the area, it can become a chronic problem that limits availability for the rest of the season and beyond. The Dodgers have to manage Betts the way you would manage an aging quarterback with a bad knee. The talent is still there. The body has to be respected.
For now, the news is mostly good. Betts is on the field. He is getting hits. The team has a plan. The setback is being managed. The Dodgers are still the favorite in the NL West, and a healthy Betts in October is still the path to the parade.
The next two weeks will tell the real story. If Betts can string together a healthy stretch with consistent at-bats, the team can move past the injury narrative. If he keeps having setbacks, the Dodgers have a much bigger problem on their hands than anyone wants to admit.
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.
