Mookie Betts said earlier today that his return to the Dodgers’ lineup could come as early as tomorrow, and that scenario has now come to pass. Manager Dave Roberts told J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group (Twitter links) that Betts will be activated from the 10-day injured list prior to tomorrow’s game with the Padres.
Los Angeles placed Betts on the IL on June 19 due to a cracked rib, so returning in only two weeks’ time is a sigh of relief for the player and the team following what could have been a much more serious injury. The Dodgers even acquired Trayce Thompson as a right-handed hitting platoon partner for Eddy Alvarez in the outfield, seemingly indicating that Betts could miss a significant amount of time. Even a week ago, Roberts didn’t have a timetable on Betts’ status and noted that the former AL MVP hadn’t yet begun any baseball activities.
Fortunately, once Betts did return to workouts, his progress went quite smoothly. There was some suggestion that Betts could return as a second baseman rather than as a right fielder in order to make it easier on him to throw, though Betts said today that he preferred playing the field to being a designated hitter.
Betts will in fact return as a right fielder, as Chris Taylor is now day-to-day with a left foot contusion suffered while attempting a catch during tonight’s game. X-rays were negative on Taylor’s foot, though the issue was serious enough for him to be removed from the game in the sixth inning.
The Dodgers have seemingly had a revolving door of players getting injured or healthy all season long, and yet without their first-choice lineup, L.A. is still leading the National League with a 49-28 record. Naturally, Betts has been a big part of that success, hitting .273/.349/.535 with 17 home runs over his first 275 plate appearances. Even with two missed weeks on the IL, Betts’ 3.3 fWAR still ranks him 12th among all hitters in baseball this season.
Where’s that guy who has been saying dodgers are overrated for the last couple months?
He must feel embarrassed that the Dodgers are still leading the league.
You think the Yankees or Astros are taking LA seriously? Despite Dave Roberts’s propaganda, it turns out the NL West is actually pretty bad this year!
The Padres have no offense, the Giants are totally discombobulated on offense AND defense, and the Rockies and DBacks are trash per usual.
LAD’s had the easiest strength of schedule in baseball through 77 games. Check the metrics. For comparison, TOR had the hardest schedule, while NYM are 8th, NYY 16th, HOU 18th, ATL 22nd. The Dodgers were barely .500 in the month of June, once they weren’t playing Arizona every game.
People have no historical memory, and it’s sad. This is how every 162-game Dodger season goes: Massive preseason hype. They get fat off bad teams. GM adds a high-profile player or two at the deadline. Second dose of media hype. Roberts mismanages the pitching staff, top performers shrink under the pressure, and they choke in the playoffs.
I *almost* feel bad for their fans at this point. Drinking that blue Kool-Aid…
Also, OP said “leading the league” like they’re running away with the NL. They’re only up 1.5 on NY & 4 on ATL.
“ Also, OP said “leading the league” like they’re running away with the NL. They’re only up 1.5 on NY & 4 on ATL.”
Aka, what he said was correct.
Go complain somewhere else. You sound like an insignificant giant fan upset at the world
Well run? Maybe. If the Yanks and Dodgers would happen to pair off in the World Series, I definitely would watch. I like each roster. That said, I’m hoping for 2 teams to reach the WS that are fiscally responsible. You know, they have a budget and try their best to stay with in the constraints of it. IE. they keep their payrolls below the salary tax threshold(a). Like the Braves and Astros do. Watching an Atlanta and Houston match up would be just as entertaining to me as a Yanks vs Dodgers series.
“You know, they have a budget and try their best to stay with in the constraints of it. IE. they keep their payrolls below the salary tax threshold(a). Like the Braves and Astros do. Watching an Atlanta and Houston match up would be just as entertaining to me as a Yanks vs Dodgers series.”
Oh you mean the teams that care more about their shareholders dividend and bottom line than putting a consistently winning product on the field? Hahahaha. You’re talking about billionaires being “fiscally responsible” for spending 205M instead of 215M.
You’re a corporate pawn and too ignorant to know it. Congrats? Boy that sure helps makes a winning team!!
Did you know, the Braves GM spent years in LA first, then took their business plan to ATL? So he was part of the “badness” of spending first… and he’d do it again, but AA’s hands are tied by his corporate bosses…? But hey, facts sucks
@BeforeMcCourt; good evening. 2 things I enjoy about this board. One. The people who post have a passion for the game to the point of wanting to play pretend GM. That’s me. Two: I enjoy the back and forth with said people. You included. I’m still digesting what you said, ya got me thinking here a bit. Thanks for that. Cheers!
Back on the topic of Mookie, his return is excellent news! Looking forward to seeing him continue what has been a good season thus far.
I tend to agree. LA and NY are trying to provide their fans what they want—winning teams—and of course that comes at a cost. And it’s not like these organizations don’t develop their prospects. If only the owners of perennial losers cared as much. It sucks when half of the league’s teams are out of contention two months into the season. Maybe MLB should (somehow) penalize a chronic lack of competitiveness by teams—by relegation or deprivation of revenue pool money. Props to teams like the Braves and Astros for fielding competitive teams on more “modest” budgets.
Are they leading the league? Yes? Oh, then what he said was accurate and you have no point? Got it.
Why should it matter to a fan what type of budget a team runs as long as they’re winning games? These teams are at no risk of overspending and going defunct. There’s no additional prize for winning a title while being at a lower budget level.
As long as the team can maintain that budget, I’d agree. When teams spend stupidly and it affects their ability to fill holes in subsequent years, I absolutely understand why fans care.
Not entirely on topic with the point about the dodgers having a massive payroll, but I think in general for fans of most teams, it comes down to the idea of whether you want to see your team be consistently good, or go have a window where they push all in then have to rebuild.
@nottinghamforest13
There are maybe no direct prizes, but there are indirect prizes such as additional jersey sales, makes the team more attractive to free agents, usually a bump in fan attendance, and usually a bump in viewership. The additional viewership comes in handy if you are in the midst of negotiating tv deals as well as if you can attract a bigger name in free agents which will help drive higher jersey sales.
Also correct me if im wrong dont the owners and players make extra money if they are in the playoff / championship games. Might be a set number of like 50k a game for players and a percent of tv revenue for their team?
Here’s the thing, any team could do what LA does. And no, I don’t mean blowing the salary cap when they want- which is also true. Another topic
The dodgers win because they developed a home grown core, to both contribute with the team- and be used as trade bait. and they’ve done it with a lower 20s pick or worse every year. the dodgers spend to supplement their core, not to create one. ANY team should be following this plan, frankly
Allerdings6 hours ago
It sucks when half of the league’s teams are out of contention two months into the season.
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This gets lost on the fans sometimes, but generally speaking, half the teams finish above .500 and half finish below .500.
There are some fans out there that think, if only the owners spent more money, they could all finish over .500.
BeforeMcCourt11 hours ago
“ Also, OP said “leading the league” like they’re running away with the NL. They’re only up 1.5 on NY & 4 on ATL.”
Aka, what he said was correct.
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I’m not a believer in the LAD this year. Buehler will be tough to overcome, imho.
But I do get a kick out of fans twisting themselves into a pretzel, trying to find something to criticize about the #1 team in the NL.
McCourt – I’ve got no horse in this NL race, but I hafta say the “developed home grown core” part is totally disingenuous. And it’s so played out.
20 years ago Yankee fans would try to convince the world that money wasn’t a factor in their late-90’s success because of their “home grown core” … that is, until I pointed out many of those “home grown” players were signed as amateur free agents such as Mariano and Bernie. When you have the resources, you can throw a bunch of money at teenagers living in other countries with the hope that some of them will turn into ML players.
It also helps when a team can afford to acquire big contract players via trade or free agency, then trade them (often along with a boatload of cash) for prospects. Look at the prospects the Yanks got for Chapman and Miller.
As Mo Vaughn would say, it’s always about the money.
Joe – I agree, some fans are not very bright. They think that by simply trying to copy other teams, they will have success. When in reality, intelligence and money and some luck combined are what wins championships.
Look at all the teams that think using analytics is the key to titles. Meanwhile Oakland hasn’t even won an ALCS game since 1992.
And let’s face it, if Friedman’s use of analytics was as brilliant as some people thought, he wouldn’t need to outspend every other team by a wide margin year after year. Obviously.
Hahaha complaining about kool aid then you pull out 16th, 18th and 22nd as comps.
It’s almost like that statistic means absolutely nothing
Last I checked, they’ve made it to the Series 3 of the last 5 years. They’ve only been eliminated by the eventual champion in every season since 2017, winning one ring in the process.
It’s almost like, they’re really, really well run and you’re spewing nonsense, Neon. Almost. Or exactly like that?
Why do you think I mentioned the teams I did? Because they’re commonly thought of as 2022 World Series contenders…
As for those years you mentioned, hang the banner now: Lost to the Eventual Champions.
Why do you think LA could only break through in a shortened season? Roberts cannot manage a staff over a 162 grind. Anderson & Gonsolin will be pulp by September.
When your common citations have nothing to prove, maybe don’t go into specific comps?? Oh no, they’ve had the 30th ranked scheduled instead of 22nd!? But they’re the best team in baseball, instead of staring at another teams ass all year. Boy, what a knock on LA.
Complain about the short year all you want. Roberts managed thru the most playoff wins for any champion, ever in the history of baseball, with the fewest off days to boot. If he was such a piss poor manager of his pitchers, shouldn’t they have all crapped the bed during the elongated AND truncated 2020 playoffs? Oh wait, that would ruin your BS complaints that any “fan” can claim about any manager with impunity. Yawn.
There’s no reason to think Gonsolin is heading for an injury. Except you’re basically praying for bad luck with players health, and that says A LOT more about the man you’re not than the manager Roberts is.
That 8 pitch 8th inning for Gonsolin’s last outing really showcased how overworked he was, huh!? Dave musta messed with your sister or something cause you clearly have personal beef with Roberts, facts and logic be damned
The reality is LA has not had their starting 5 nor their planned starting 9 for any amount of time in 2022, yet they’re the best team in the NL in July. Maybe, just maybe, you should be giving Roberts his due instead of complaining about nonsense and looking like a fool….
Best team in baseball? By what metric? Your imagination?
Yeah I’m sure the Dodgers having the easiest schedule so far has nothing to do with their record.
“most playoffs wins for any champion”… This is one of the funniest rebuttals. Dude, they played ONE more game than the WildCard-to-WS Nationals did the previous year. Guess who that extra game was against — the Brewers! One of the worst teams to ever make the playoffs at all!
RE Gonsolin: you’re bringing up an inning from early July to say he won’t eventually be overworked? This is clownish.
It’s a very curious thing that a person would be typing a thought, written word, and during that process they begin typing out the sound of laughter. They don’t make the statement that the other person’s words are laughable or have made this person laugh, but rather type out the perceived inaudible sound that may have occurred.
But aren’t words typed also occurring after a thought was made? How do you feel about exclamation points? We need to bring a Tlingit or Shakespeare into this discussion.
Actually Gonsolin workload has been really mild
I never said they were the best team in baseball. The Yankees are this year, far and away. Thus far.
I said best record in the NL, but hey, reading is hard when you’re getting destroyed by every sense of logic
Notting, people deserve to know their stupidity has led to laughter. Maybe they’ll think before they start complaining
If I type out my laughter at you, you prolly have a very flawed argument. I’m just pointing it out. If it offends you, have a better argument?
“ most playoffs wins for any champion”… This is one of the funniest rebuttals. Dude, they played ONE more game than the WildCard-to-WS Nationals did the previous year. Guess who that extra game was against — the Brewers! One of the worst teams to ever make the playoffs at all!”
Wasn’t just the number of wins, it was the complete lack of off days. Like I said…. Reading buddy. Get better at it
Oh weird. Didn’t you type this? Your first paragraph?
“But they’re the best team in baseball, instead of staring at another teams ass all year.”
I’m not convinced there’s anything between your ears at all.
Lack of off-days? Who cares? Didn’t LA get to play in the same park in Texas for multiple series? Boo hoo. Any true Dodger fan, if they’re being honest, would tell you 2020 was a joke.
They also have played the least amount of home games of any team in baseball, and as San Diego is learning right now the Dodgers don’t lose at home.
They’re 23-12 at home, so yes, they do lose. The Padres are not a very good team, let’s be honest. Bottom of the league in slugging. Yawn…
If slug is the only metric you care about sure, but the padres also play in one of the worst offensive home parks
Since 1995, how often has the team with the BEST MLB record actually went on to win the World Series? Not sure being the best team in the regular season is very predictive on who will win the World Series. As great as the Yankees have been this season, winning multiple series in a row is still a very difficult task…
Roberts mismanaging the pitching staff is an obstacle the Dodgers have to overcome every year is an excellent point…
Roberts “mismanages” his pitching staff in precisely the way Friedman wants it to be mismanaged. Are we having fun yet?
Jersey – As the postseason continues to expand more and more, we will see the best regular season team winning it all less and less. It’s simply the law of averages, more postseason games equals more opportunities for upsets.
And until we go back to a more balanced schedule, we will often never know which team is the best in MLB. Strength of schedule is a huge factor in a team’s record.
Big game tomorrow, worth 2 basically.
Id like to give 2 starts to Grove or Pepiot in the next 13 games before the break if possible, ease off the staff
A win tomorrow could help that goal. We could probably get by with only DH’ing Mookie thru the break as well as long as CT 3 checks out Ok from todays game. Thompson has been great
I’d say they should make Mookie pee in a cup before the game.
Better yet, your ear.
Please explain what steroid would make him heal more quickly from a cracked rib?
Spoiler, it’s none of them. Moron.
Ah, & here you are again, this time namecalling under an obvious joke post. Classy!
Keep complaining about Roberts and your sister buddy. I couldn’t care less about your thoughts
While I enjoy your discourse with Neon Cop, just mute him at this point
Just saying steroid usage is a strong possibility for such a fast recovery. I noticed the complaints of my accusations are dedicated LA fans, complete with childish insults. Indicates you also may suspect the same, but Mookie is one of your favorites. Another player on another team and you guys would be saying the same thing.
@Bird. I’m not a Dodger fan and say you’re fos. Let’s be real and fact-based just for once, shall we?
Jerry – The proper term that nobody here has used yet is “HGH”, which is not a steroid.
HGH is indeed a PED and does indeed contribute to fractures healing faster.
Apparently nobody here is old enough to remember Andy Pettitte, a Yankees pitcher who admitted using HGH to help recover from an elbow injury.
Do I think Mookie used HGH? Knowing about him as much as I do, I’d say no.
Mookie is a great bowler.
Does anyone actually use old school steroids anymore and if so why?
@nottinghamforest13; I would say “yes” some may but most use new school steroids/PEDs which have not made it to the MLB banned substance list. And as long as there are professional sports, there will always be a chemist or 2 out there with the newest designer PED not banned yet looking to sell to players desperate to gain an edge/boost .
Doesn’t matter what era of PEDs are used. It is still a possibility for such a quick return. Cracked ribs are a serious injury and very difficult to deal with. I know the world has Mookie at the top of the mountain, but he is human. Just depends on the temptation. Many “noble” baseball players have given in before, Pettit being a perfect example. He was a class guy who just wanted to get back as soon as he could, not juice up like Barroid Bonds or Roger Clemens.
Just saying, it is a possibility. Simply test him, or is that too risky?
I don’t think players who return from injury should be subjected to an immediate drug test. It creates the image that all players are guilty of using until proven innocent. That’s not good for anyone. If someone decides to cheat, that’s on them. No reason clean players should have that scrutiny.
Only blood tests work for HGH, urine doesn’t.
Good luck getting the union to agree to a non-random blood test.
Yankee Bleacher – I have always respected your opinion. And I agree with you. My only reason for doubt is such a fast return after this particular injury.
Now if the guy were to collapse, writhing in pain, I would apologize. People find much difficulty just to breathe normally without pain, let alone play a game of baseball with broken or cracked ribs. No athlete can train for that.
Fever – Well then, looks like his ass is covered, guilty or not.
@JerryBird I appreciate it. Always fun to chat with level-headed folks like you and FPG. The main issue is we don’t havecomplete info regarding Betts’ injury, nor would I be able to read his medicals if presented with one. Maybe Betts is super-human and heals faster than the rest of us. Or it’s a specific damaged rib which doesn’t effect his core as much as other ones. It’s all speculation.
YBC – Exactly, we don’t know what we don’t know, therefore pointing fingers at Mookie is silly. He’s a standup guy, I can’t imagine him using a banned PED.
And it’s not like he’s a desperate player trying to earn another contract.
@FPG I still remember the story of him sneaking out to hand out Thanksgiving leftovers to the homeless in Boston and then someone outed him.
YBC – Yeah me too. He’s one of the very few guys who I think is a great role model, squeaky clean reputation and great personality. Comes from a military family which explains a lot, he was raised right.
Sounds like some type of fetish that you’re choosing to share with us.
“There was some suggestion that Betts could return as a second baseman rather than as a right fielder in order to make it easier on him to throw, though Betts said today that he preferred playing the field to being a designated hitter.”
Is second base now a form of DH?
Seems early to be returning from a fractured rib; I hope he doesn’t aggravate the injury before it fully heals.
We never got a full medical report on the injury (as if we were entitled to one), but I think it’s a fair guess that it was a hairline fracture and probably more painful than serious.
It amazes me how many people on the internet think they know medical prognoses for the players. This has been going on since the early 2000s, and probably earlier with guys like Manny & Papi. Fans would criticize them being given a day off, because the poster knows that they aren’t hurt that bad.
And they actually believe that, not being a doctor, not knowing the player, not seeing the MRIs, but they believe that they are perfectly capable of diagnosing a player.
That, and like clockwork whenever a player is on the IL with a broken bone or some other impact injury, someone will say “dude can’t stay healthy.”
Pardon me, the article stated that Betts suffered a “cracked” rib.
@Allerdings, interesting; “penalize a chronic lack of competitiveness by teams…” I like that. I’m thinking, though probably hard to gauge, your suggestion of “deprivation of revenue pool” distribution would get an owners attention!
@Dodgers fans: For fans of the greatest team in the NL and for all time, your overly sensitive comments on here are entertaining but getting tiresome. Dodgers are doing great this year and are destroying the Padres right now: sit back, relax and enjoy it. If the Padres ever get better than the dodgers, I sure won’t be getting bent out of shape if someone suggests it was due to an easy schedule.
The Dodger fanbase is an interesting psychological study. They’re usually a mix of misplaced hubris, entitlement, & a crippling victim complex. Lots of white knights in the replies can’t engage with basic facts. Most fans “identify” with their team to some extent, but in the Dodgers case it’s full blown psychosis.
I can think of an interesting psychological profile, but that ain’t it.