Mookie Betts hoping to return to normal after long wait
May 11, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts (50) takes batting practice prior to the game against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images LOS ANGELES — For the first time in 37 days, Mookie Betts is back in the starting lineup, batting second for the Dodgers on Monday night against the San Francisco Giants . In between was a lot of waiting, still hampered by his strained right oblique.
“I didn’t realize how long it takes to really heal. I felt pretty good pretty fast, actually. But some of the movements I just couldn’t do, lingered for a long time,” Betts said Monday at Dodger Stadium.
“I was trying to hurry, but the docs were like, ‘It takes a month for it to just heal. ’ Then you have to do all your prep to get back to playing. So you can’t really rush time.
” He returns to a Dodgers lineup that could use some offense, having scored just seven runs in the previous three games against the Atlanta Braves , and scoring three or fewer runs eight times over the previous 11 games. Not that the Dodgers are expecting Betts to be a savior. “Two games of rehab, taking batting practice, a day of live at-bats is not ideal, but I think with Mookie, you just don’t know,” manager Dave Roberts said.
“The hope is that he can hit the ground running. ” Betts is keeping things simple. “Things feel pretty close to the same.