As expected, the Dodgers have placed Mookie Betts on the 10-day injured list and recalled Zach McKinstry. They also activated starter Andrew Heaney, optioning Reyes Moronta.
Betts excellence has become almost commonplace, as he’s again putting together a season that should merit MVP consideration if he’s able to return healthy. The former MVP is hitting .273/.349/.535 for a 148 wRC+. Combining that batting line with his excellent defense and baserunning, Betts has already accrued 3.3 wins above replacement on the year, in the estimation of FanGraphs.
As much as it hurts to lose Betts, Heaney is a big return for the Dodgers. Los Angeles is eager to see what exactly they have in Heaney, who made two scoreless starts at the outset of this season before going on the injured list. The former Angel is coming off a disastrous season, of course, in which he logged an overall 5.83 ERA/4.85 FIP with the Angels and Yankees. He became basically unplayable while in pinstripes, but looks to bounce back in Dodger blue.
Moronta, 29, losing his spot on the big league club for now. Moronta has been consistently good in the Majors, though is mostly limited samples. He has made eight appearances this season with an even 2.00 ERA and 2.47 FIP. It’s likely that he will return to the bigs at some point this season.
Samer
Woah!
You doubled down on “excellent” with “excellence”
Now that’s getting your fellow mlbtr writers’ back!
Mookie Betts has been so excellent, excellence XD
“He’s described as excellent since big market Dodgers.”
THIS is why i read comments.
Small market inferiority complex… Read that somewhere.
Dont blame the media coverage…
Fever Pitch Guy
Samer – Nahh … if he really had his back, he would have written that Mookie will win the MVP or at least finish Top 5.
;O)
Samer
Fever Pitch Guy, i appreciate your positivity. Take +1!
Love those who dont take themselves too seriously : ))
Fever Pitch Guy
Thanks Samer, I’m gonna go watch Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure now. I heard it was good.
gbs42
Bogus Journey is totally bogus.
Curly Was The Smart Stooge
I guess toasting ribs over an open grill is off the menu for the Betts family fathers day?
Cracked or broken ribs hurt like hell, don’t sneeze, laugh or cough. GWS
paddyo furnichuh
Or sleep!
Fever Pitch Guy
“Betts excellence has become almost commonplace, as he’s again putting together a season that should merit MVP consideration ”
Last year 23 players received votes in NL MVP voting … Mookie wasn’t one of them.
He currently ranks 15th in OPS and 16th in WAR.
So sure, he’ll get a few 8th-9th-10th place votes if he maintains his performance the rest of the season. I guess that makes his season “excellent”, right? Keep lowering that bar! LOL!!
Kewldood69
You need to go outside and breathe some fresh air, brother.
Fever Pitch Guy
Kewl – It’s 96° outside and muggy as hell, inside with the AC is the place to be ;O)
mlbdodgerfan2015
He was having MVP season but then cooled off significantly and now the injury. Last season he only had flashes of eliteness but overall a disappointing season especially considering the contract and expectations.
tstats
Sounds like this Red Sox fan is a tad salty that his team was too cheap to sign Betts
Angry Disgruntled Sox Fan
Really? Betts was an overpay from the start.
amk1920
Mookie Betts is an excellent baseball player
Fever Pitch Guy
When healthy.
Mi Casas es tu Casas
Mookie is a good player who will have a hard time staying healthy.
Manfred’s playing with the balls
Dodgers weakness is pitcher management. Roberts has his great traits but handling hot arms has never been one of them.
amk1920
That’s probably the least of their issues. Their rotation is great and the injuries in the pen have made it easy to know who does what
Manfred’s playing with the balls
And yet they still get killed in extra innings and close games.
Anyone who has watched this team has seen Roberts let the team down while handling the bullpen.
Last post season and walker buehler decline after his CG are recent examples.
paddyo furnichuh
To your last “point,” OF COURSE Buehler’s bone spurs and forearm strain are Roberts’ fault! /S
Of course it is! It is also Dave Roberts’s fault about your username misfortune.
Pedro 4 Delino
It’s Dave’s fault for letting him go the CG.
Paddy is a joke
Pedro 4 Delino
@amk
Roberts matchup selections blew another game.
How are those defined roles now.
Immediately after I called Roberts out too.
You act like I insulted Roberts by calling him the Dodgers weakness. That shows how good the dodgers truly are but he’s still their weak spot.
You disagree with me but I notice how you didn’t say say what their weak spot is.
claude raymond
Betts’ injury is _______ and it happened when _______. Someone who follows the Didgers please fill in blanks.
Samer
I wish i could say “non-serious” since initially, 10 day.
But who knows!
tstats
Existent, when he dove for a ball to attempt to save a no hitter. It was not on the collision because then he wouldn’t have dove for the ball.
claude raymond
I googled it. Cracked rib from a collision. Not sure why i just didn’t go straight to internet. Thanks for trying tho.
claude raymond
Of course, none of this would have been necessary if the writer, Zencka, had written a better article.
tstats
While Google does say that, that doesn’t make sense as Mookie took swings then with a cracked rib and proceeded to dive for a ball with a cracked rib. It was on the dive not the collision. Also there had been an article detailing the incident already iirc
Samer
Exactly… It’s not always “black and white”
What did you google? Cite your source. Many google ads are actually masqueraded as search results lol.
Cap & Crunch
Heaney might possibly have the best stuff in the Dodger rotation
Pure filth today
Sneaky delivery spot that usually comes from shorter pitchers but he’s rather large. Great arm slot on slider/fastball.
Even the xbh’s he gave up were all fooled batters with arm swings. Might have been the most dominant 5 inns I’ve seen from a Dodger starter all year long. Nobody looked comfortable vs him
Neon Cop
What about the dude who homered off him on the first pitch? Didn’t seem to mind at all. What about the other 4 hits? I swear the mindless hype is out of control.
tstats
This is a huge overreaction to Heaney being good. The best start the dodgers had this year was easily Kershaws 7 inning perfecto
Fred McGriff HR
Lack of communication in the outfield and following basic rules such as calling my ball in the outfield, and then this is the result.
twitter.com/i/status/1537288348078706688
YankeesBleacherCreature
Sometimes it’s the nature of being uber-competitive and the players are not thinking and only reacting. The Carlos Beltran-Mike Cameron collision was one of the worst I can remember and both of these guys were veteran elite defenders.
BlueSkies_LA
It’s also in the nature of playing in a loud ballpark. It’s called not taking your eye off the ball and not being able to hear each other over the crowd. Or you could say neither of these guys know how to play baseball. Yeah, that must be it.
Fever Pitch Guy
YBC – Ellsbury once ran into a brick wall named Adrian Beltre … I think Ellsbury is still dealing with lingering effects from that collision.
Samer
Thankfully; Beltre came out of it;
Still HOF! (When eligible)