Mookie Betts is back. The Dodgers superstar was activated from the 10-day injured list ahead of Monday night’s series opener against the San Francisco Giants and slotted into the No. 2 spot in the lineup. He had been out nearly five weeks with a right oblique strain.
The way the Dodgers are handling the return tells you exactly how the modern game treats a superstar. Betts is not going to play every day for the next two weeks. Dave Roberts has already laid out a plan that has him playing Monday and Tuesday, sitting Wednesday, and then potentially appearing in two of the next three games after that.
That is the right call. Oblique injuries are notoriously tricky. They look healed and then flare up the moment a hitter takes a hard swing. Betts only played two rehab games at Triple-A Oklahoma City, going 2-for-5 with a walk and 11 innings in the field. Two games is not a normal ramp-up for nearly five weeks off.
The Dodgers, of course, do not have a normal player. Betts is going to a Hall of Fame ballot whenever he stops playing. Even at 33, he has been one of the most consistent producers in baseball. His OPS in 2025 was .892. His position flexibility is unmatched in the game. The team that can play him at right field, second base, or shortstop without losing a beat is the team that wins more games.
For Roberts, the question is how to deploy Betts as the team navigates a stretch run that has the Dodgers in a tight National League race. The Padres are right there. The Giants have made it interesting. The Diamondbacks are still hanging around. Losing Betts for any meaningful stretch in May would be a real problem.
The lineup, with Betts back, gets dangerous in a hurry. Shohei Ohtani is doing Shohei Ohtani things. Freddie Freeman is still Freddie Freeman. Will Smith has been the steady catcher. Add Betts into the No. 2 hole and you have one of the most elite top-of-the-order combinations in baseball.
The Dodgers’ pitching, of course, is the bigger concern. Tyler Glasnow has had injury issues. Blake Snell has been in and out of the rotation. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been the rock, but even he has had a few rough starts. The team needs the offense to carry games while the pitching staff figures itself out. Betts coming back makes that possible.
For Betts personally, the return is a chance to write a new chapter in a season that has not gone the way he wanted. He was off to a great start before the oblique issue. The hope is that the time off has refreshed his legs and recharged the rest of his body for the long pull through October.
The Giants series presented an immediate test. San Francisco has been one of the most surprising teams in the NL. They have pitching, they have timely hitting, and they have a manager in Bob Melvin who knows how to win games against the Dodgers. Welcoming Betts back with three games against a real division rival is exactly the kind of soft landing he did not get.
For the rest of the NL, the message is simple. The Dodgers are getting healthier. Their pitching will sort itself out. Their lineup, with Betts back, is the deepest in the league. Anyone who thought the Padres or Diamondbacks were going to run away with the West has another think coming.
Welcome back, Mookie. The Dodgers needed you. Now the National League gets to deal with you again. October is going to be loud.
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.
