Mookie Betts getting placed on the injured list on Sunday brings with it some questions for the Dodgers. He’ll miss at least 10 days, though a strained oblique never seems to require only a minimum stay on the sidelines.
Max Muncy last season missed three and a half weeks on the injured list with an oblique strain, and pitcher Alex Vesia was out for 17 days with the same injury, to name two recent Dodgers examples.
From Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times:
“Hearing oblique, it kind of gives you a little
something in your stomach,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But talking to Mookie, I felt a little more reassured today.”
…
“As far as putting a timeline, I’m really hesitant right now, because [obliques] are tricky,” Roberts said.
For however long Betts is out, the Dodgers are without a staple near the top of the other, this year serving as their No. 3 hitter. On Sunday, Teoscar Hernández batted third against the Washington Nationals, though that was also a lineup without No. 2 hitter Kyle Tucker, who got a bit of a rest before pinch-hitting later in the game.
At shortstop, the Dodgers plan to use a platoon of righty-batting Miguel Rojas and lefty-batting Hyeseong Kim, with switch-hitter Alex Freeland getting a bit of a — wait for it — runway at second base. Manager Dave Roberts wasn’t yet ready on Sunday morning in Washington D.C. to unveil his lineup plans without Betts.
From Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register:
“He’s Mookie Betts, so it certainly changes,” he said. “That’s the great thing about having the depth that a lot of teams don’t have. Being able to plug in a platoon at short and feel like you have good matchups is not all bad. And it gives other guys opportunities. But it’s a blow for sure.”
