WASHINGTON -- The Los Angeles Dodgers will be without star shortstop Mookie Betts for the foreseeable future, with the team expected to place him on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain, manager Dave Roberts said Sunday.
Betts was removed in the first inning of Saturday's 10-5 win over the Washington Nationals with right lower back tightness. Roberts said he expected Betts to miss at least a few games. MRI results instead revealed the oblique strain, which will sideline Betts for an undetermined amount of time.
While oblique injuries are historically unpredictable -- especially in terms of estimating recovery -- Roberts said he was optimistic Betts would miss less time than the standard projected timetable of four to six weeks.
"I would take the under on that," Roberts said. "But as far as putting a timeline, I'm really hesitant right now because they are tricky."
The Dodgers believe Betts aggravated his oblique on a check swing in the top of the first Saturday, but did not feel the injury until he ran the bases. Betts worked a walk and scored later in the inning, but did not take the field for the bottom of the first. Los Angeles was likely to place Betts on the IL regardless of the test results, but the original hope was that he'd miss minimal time. Now, the Dodgers must be prepared to be without one of their top players for at least a few weeks.
"Early on, trying to figure out what initiated it, we didn't know where the pain was," Roberts said. "Hearing oblique, and it gives you a little something in your stomach. But talking to Mookie, I felt a little more reassured today.
"He's actually in better spirits. Obviously disappointed, but just the way he feels today, and I think he's had some dealings with that before and said it's better than he recalls past experience. So that was encouraging."
Hyeseong Kim was called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City as the corresponding move for Betts. He will split time at shortstop with Miguel Rojas, while Alex Freeland will see the bulk of time at second base. The Dodgers had been platooning Rojas and Freeland at second, but Roberts said that platoon will likely switch to Rojas and Kim at shortstop, with Freeland seeing the majority of starts at second base.
Kim logged just 46 innings at shortstop last year, compared to 278 at second base. But the Dodgers want to see more of Freeland in an everyday role, including more production against right-handed pitchers. Keeping the switch-hitting Freeland at second base allows him to do that, while Kim can still see ample reps splitting time at shortstop. Roberts is also encouraged by what he perceives to be an improved throwing arm from Kim.
"I like his range, I like the way he gets off the ball, and he catches it. And since he's got here, I think his arm stroke slot has gotten better so there's more carry," Roberts said. "It's not a lack of arm strength. Never has been. But I do think that the ball has more carry now which I like playing short."
Roberts is still configuring what the top of his lineup will look like without Betts hitting third, though Shohei Ohtani should remain in the leadoff spot. One player who could be moved up in the order is Andy Pages, who is off to one of the hottest starts (15-for-30, three home runs, 1.349 OPS) in the National League. Pages has hit at the bottom of the order for most of the season so far, but was moved up to fifth for Sunday's game.
"He has shown me enough (to be moved up)," Roberts said of Pages. "Whether it’s the right thing as far as somebody behind Freddie (Freeman) and all that stuff, there are other things that I think through.
"Hitting lower, there’s a tax on a starting pitcher to go one through six to then get to the seventh or eighth hitter, which—to his credit—he has taken advantage of. But if you look at the at-bats separately, he’s taking really good at-bats, and he’s spoiling pitches, taking pitches that he needs to. I do think where his swing is at, where his head is at, will translate anywhere in the order.”