Mookie Betts returns to the active roster on Monday, and getting him back after five weeks on the injured list brings all sorts of "good problems" for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
Betts is slated to be the starting shortstop for the Dodgers in the series opener with the San Francisco Giants, his first game since landing on the injured list April 5 with an oblique strain. He went 2-for-5 on a two-game rehab assignment Friday and Saturday with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Betts was batting .179 with two
home runs and seven RBIs in eight games with the Dodgers earlier this season but Roberts said he's counting on the usual jolt Los Angeles has come to expect with Betts near the top of the order.
"It's a good problem in a sense of where we're at, but it's a potential tough conversation," Roberts said Sunday, noting the corresponding move might be tricky because of the three-man platoon used in Betts' absence.
Hyeseong Kim saw the bulk of time at shortstop with Betts out of action. Infielders Kim, Alex Freeland and Santiago Espinal all could be a potential corresponding roster move.
The Dodgers could decide to send Freeland or Kim to the minors to get them regular at-bats and playing time. Freeland, a switch-hitter who was on the Opening Day roster, is hitting the ball better of late to lift his average to .235. Kim could move to second base in a platoon with Miguel Rojas. He's batting .289 in 86 plate appearances.
Espinal is batting only .188 but his value is in a utility role and late-game defense, and he's out of minor-league options.
Roberts has suggested that Betts will share time at shortstop immediately upon his return until he progresses into an everyday player again.
"Who's going to get the lion's share (of playing time), how much is Mookie going to play, the value of somebody going to the minors and playing more vs. having some optionality with the roster. Opponent, off-days potentially and how much depth you need," Roberts said of what he's taking into consideration with the move. "So there's a lot of different ways you can go about it. We're kind of in the process of having those conversations now."
Infielder/outfielder Enrique Hernandez (elbow) also is close to a return. On a minor league rehab assignment, Hernandez is on the 60-day injured list but eligible to return May 24.
--Field Level Media
