Dodgers Do Not Want to Put Mookie Betts on the Injury List, Fine Playing a Man Short

The Dodgers have been without right fielder Mookie Betts since Monday due to a nagging hip injury. His presence was certainly missed against with the San Francisco Giants as the team ultimately dropped the series 3-1.

Chris Taylor has done a terrific job at filling in at the lead off spot, but without the bat and glove of Mookie, this team isn’t as strong. Unfortunately, the Dodgers will be without him until at least early next week. However, Dave Roberts mentioned that Betts will not be heading to the IL. Instead, the team will play down a man until he returns to avoid having him miss another series against the Giants. This comes after the team had considered making such a move to give him time to recover.

“If we do that then even with the backdate, we’ll miss him for the potential Giants series. I think the other alternative is we feel good about standing pat and waiting it out.”

The club may be able to keep moving forward without Mookie in the lineup as they were able to scrape together enough firepower to potentially win the series if it wasn’t for back-to-back blown saves by Kenley Jansen. 

Related: Dave Roberts Will Stick With Kenley Jansen After 2 Blown Saves

While Mookie will still be sidelined through the weekend, the good news is there isn’t anything new to the injury. The plan then is for Mookie to be unavailable for Saturday night’s game before then getting him to move around on Sunday. The Dodgers also have a scheduled off day on Monday before hopefully seeing Betts return to the lineup on Tuesday in San Francisco. 

With Los Angeles still trailing them in the standings, Mookie’s return could help close the gap and put the team back into division leaders. 

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