Betts returns to lineup after missing 4 games
LOS ANGELES » Mookie Betts might be guilty of small sample size bias.
“We’ve got guys to step in and play how we’ve been playing,” Betts said on returning to the lineup Tuesday after missing four consecutive games with lower back stiffness. “I mean, we’ve pretty much won every game other than one that I haven’t played. I think that just goes to show how
deep we are, and we don’t really need me.”
The Dodgers did win three of the four games Betts missed, sweeping the Washington Nationals over the weekend without Betts or Cody Bellinger in their lineup. Betts’ advice to Zach McKinstry and Edwin Rios
when they filled in for him was not to think of it that way.
“Just go play, have fun,” he said. “They’re obviously young guys that are helping our team a lot. I didn’t want them to feel like they’re taking over my role or feel like they had shoes to fill or anything. I wanted them just to be who they are. They’re plenty good enough to be on this roster and to help as they are.”
Betts said he still doesn’t know what caused his back stiffness last week. But he “turned the corner a couple days ago” and was ready to return to the lineup Tuesday after six days off (thanks to two off days on the Dodgers’ schedule mixed in with his downtime).
“I still don’t really know when or how anything happened. I was playing and it was just hurting to run,” he said. “I didn’t do anything in the game that hurt myself. So it was just kind of weird how it happened. But, it is what it is and you just kind of deal with things as they come.
“It didn’t hurt doing anything but running and running is obviously a super important thing for my game. So I didn’t want to limit myself too much when ... we have guys on the bench that can do plenty fine in this lineup.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he will moderate Betts’ playing time in the wake of the back injury. He plans to play Betts on Tuesday and Wednesday but give him Thursday off before the Dodgers head to San Diego for a three-game series against the Padres.
“I haven’t talked to him yet. But my thought is, yeah,” Roberts said of easing Betts back into the lineup. “What that means, we don’t know yet. But, even playing two of three this series to get ready for the weekend, to kind of get his legs back under him, I think makes sense.”
Betts acknowledged that he has become more accepting of the kind of preventive maintenance Roberts has practiced with the Dodgers’ roster since he became manager.
“Yeah, early on I was kind of resistant to just taking days off,” Betts said. “But obviously, a lot has changed since I first came up and there’s a lot of data that proves some days off definitely helps more on the back end. So now I’m more accepting to the schedule that Doc lays out.”
Justin Turner was on the receiving end of that kind of downtime on Tuesday. Roberts did not have Turner in the starting lineup Tuesday, pairing it with Monday’s off day to give Turner a two-day break.
“I just think that with anything, the more of a sample size, the more information, the more life experiences guys get as far as on the baseball field and understanding to get a day of rest here and there helps the individual player, it helps his teammate, it helps the ballclub ultimately,” Roberts said. “So our guys certainly have a great understanding of that. And I’ve had conversations with Mookie, who’s newer to our ball club, and he really understands that as well. I think for our players to have a grasp on that certainly makes my job a lot easier and makes our ballclub better.”
Price work
Through their first 10 games of the season, Dodgers starting pitchers had thrown a major leaguebest 62-1/3 innings, failing to complete six innings just twice (and coming within one out in each of those games).
That has left very little need for length from the Dodgers’ bullpen. As a result, relocated starter David Price has been used just twice and had not pitched in seven days before Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies.
“David has been fantastic as far as his preparation, the teammate,” Roberts said. “But, when I look at seven days and he hasn’t pitched, I’ve got to find opportunities for him. So whether it’s a short little run, whatever it might be, that’s on me. I’ve got to find an opportunity for him so I will do that in the next couple, two, three days for sure.”
Price has been roughed up in each of his first two relief appearances, allowing five runs on nine hits (including three home runs) in 3-2/3 innings.