Prior to Wednesday's game against the Phillies, the Dodgers placed superstar right fielder Mookie Betts on the injured list for the second time since the All-Star break. It is the same injury, too, with Betts' right hip being the problem. Betts was a late scratch from the lineup on Tuesday due to hip soreness, so this move doesn't come as a huge surprise.
Betts will fly back to Los Angeles Wednesday night and meet with team doctors Thursday. "We're going to have some more experts chime in to try to figure this thing out," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. The Dodgers will recall right-hander Edwin Uceta in a corresponding move.
Betts, 28, is hitting .277/.378/.521 (144 OPS+) with 25 doubles, three triples, 17 homers, 44 RBI, 68 runs, seven steals and 3.8 WAR on the season. He's been especially hot the past five weeks or so. In his last 18 games, Betts is hitting .389/.438/.750 with seven homers and 20 runs scored. Of course, due to the hip injury, that's only 18 games played since July 1.
The Dodgers recently got an infusion of talent. Not only did they add Trea Turner and Max Scherzer at the deadline, but the lineup got Betts and Corey Seager -- who had missed 10 weeks after fracturing his right hand -- back from injury. The full-strength lineup had 2018 NL MVP Cody Bellinger hitting eighth. Yes, Bellinger is having a rough year, but he's been picking things back up lately and he's far too talented to keep posting a .601 OPS.
The Betts injury is certainly a problem. Yes, the Dodgers have lots of position-player depth and are one of the best-suited teams in baseball to absorb such a blow, but they are still four games back of the Giants in the NL West and surely don't want to have to deal with a one-and-done wild card game while defending their World Series title. Losing Betts just makes the task of avoiding it that much tougher. They only have three games left against the Giants, too, so there's only so much they can help they can do to help themselves.
