Mookie Betts has struggled at the plate since returning from the 10-day injured list, but looked more like himself in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 15-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday.
Betts started things off by hitting a single in the first inning that put runners at the corners with no outs. It ultimately helped Shohei Ohtani score from third base on Will Smith’s sacrifice fly that gave the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead.
After lining out in his next at-bat, Betts drew a walk and came around to score as part of the team’s five-run sixth inning.
The 33-year-old made another hard out before capping off his strong performance with a solo home run in the top of the eighth. It was his fourth blast of the season and second in three games.
Betts finished with the two hits, which matched his total in his previous four games since coming off the IL.
“Yeah, it feels like it,” Betts answered when asked if he is starting to find a rhythm at the plate. “I just have to continue to make sure I swing at good pitches and then obviously maintenance on the swing and making sure it stays good.
“Really, just focusing on playing the game. Not putting too much pressure on myself and really enjoying the game.”
Betts reworked his swing from the ground up during the offseason and was happy with the results he achieved in Spring Training. The eight-time All-Star believes his mechanics remain in a good place and expects to continue improving.
“I mean, yeah. I think we’re pretty close to that,” Betts said of his swing. “I’m consistently kind of finding the barrel and hitting it hard. After that, I can’t make it fall, but I can continue to hit it hard and go from there.”
Mookie Betts not worried about re-injuring oblique
Betts’ progress was derailed when he missed five weeks due to his right oblique strain. The Dodgers were careful not to rush him back, and now that Betts has returned, he does not expect to have to continuously monitor his oblique.
“I just didn’t really realize how long it takes for it to really heal,” Betts recently said. “I felt pretty good, pretty fast, actually. But just some of the movements that I couldn’t do, they kind of just lingered for a long time.
“I was trying to hurry, but obviously, doctors are like, ’It just takes a month for it to heal.’ And then you have to do all your prep to get back to playing. So you can’t really rush time.”
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