It has been five weeks since the Los Angeles Dodgers placed Mookie Betts on the 10-day injured list due to a fractured left hand.
Regardless of what the Dodgers do at the trade deadline, his insertion back into the lineup will likely be the most impactful move for the team as a whole.
The nature of Betts’ injury has had its advantages and disadvantages in regard to his rehab process.
He has been able to do most baseball activities like running and throwing throughout the entire process without much hassle.
The main limitations have been picking up and swinging the bat, which needed to wait until he reached the 85% threshold on a grip strength test, and also fielding ground balls.
But Betts was able to take an important step in his rehab on Monday as he swung the bat for the first time since his injury on June 16 against the Kansas City Royals.
He also fielded backhanded ground balls with the injured left hand, which comes after he first began fielding ground balls at Dodger Stadium last week.
“Mookie looks great,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Saw him taking more grounders today and running around. He took some swings today, felt good swinging the bat. It showed enough grip strength to take some swings. He did say it was weak, which is to be expected.
“I don’t know if it’s an everyday situation as far as taking swings, but today was the first step.”
Recapturing his rhythm in the batter box after such a long break will be a challenge, but a career .295 hitter like Betts should have an easier time at it.
Fielding backhanded ground balls did trouble him as he was making the transition to shortstop early on in Spring Training and the regular season, so this seems to be a point of emphasis as he resumes fielding drills.
Mookie Betts reaches 10 Years of MLB service time
Despite missing a significant portion of the 2024 season, he recently reached an important milestone in his Major League career.
Betts and teammate Blake Treinen both reached 10 years of Major League service time, joining a rare group of MLB players.
It is an impressive feat for any Major Leaguer, signaling the longevity of their career as fewer than 10% of players in MLB history have accomplished the feat.
Kiké Hernández also became the latest player to reach the mark on the club.
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