Mookie Betts returns to revive the Dodgers as the team to beat in the National League | News, scores, highlights, stats and rumors

The Los Angeles Dodgers have spent much of the past two months simply switching teams, allowing their rivals to chip away at their pedestal as the National League’s de facto favorite.

In their defense, however, it could be said that their most important player was absent the entire time.

After spending 56 days on the disabled list with a broken hand, Mookie Betts marked his return Monday with a big home run. The former MVP hit a leadoff, two-run shot against the Milwaukee Brewers, putting the Dodgers on the path to becoming the first 70-win team in the National League. He added two more hits in victory No. 71 on Tuesday.

“I know Mookie was happy to get back and help his teammates,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. He said after Monday’s gamewhich also featured a two-run homer from NL MVP favorite Shohei Ohtani. “Obviously, it’s a lot more fun to write his name in the lineup.”

It’s been a while since Los Angeles was able to engage in anything approaching calm breathing. And even Betts’ return doesn’t change the fact that the haters are still lurking.

What you could do is make sure they never achieve it.

The Dodgers are much closer to reaching their full potential

To get a sense of how much the Dodgers’ fortunes changed after Betts took that pitch left-handed on June 16, check this out, via FanGraphs:

• Until June 16: 44-29, 92.4 percent chance of winning the NL West
• June 17-August 11: 25-20, 74.5 percent chance of winning the National League West

The latest figure is just 1.1 percent higher than what the Dodgers had when they opened their season on March 20.

It’s impossible to separate such a minuscule rebound from Betts’ extended absence. Before his DL stint, he was among the top six hitters in the National League with a .304 average, a .405 OBP, an .892 OPS and even surpassed Ohtani in fWAR.

Of course Things didn’t go well without the 31-year-old, but the strange thing about his return is that the Dodgers aren’t as good as they used to be.

While they averaged 4.9 runs per game with Betts through June 16, they improved slightly to 5.0 runs per game in the 45 games he missed. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Will Smith and Gavin Lux have all hit for good results, but the heavy lifting naturally came from Ohtani, who spent that span compiling a 1.042 OPS, 16 homers and 17 stolen bases.

“Being able to put (Betts’) name in the lineup, we’ve certainly improved a lot,” Roberts said. saying Before Monday’s game, “We’re getting to the point where we’re putting players in their respective spots in the order, which adds length and makes us a better team.”

Because Betts is moving back to right field, he’ll take at-bats that had primarily gone to Jason Heyward, whose OPS is down 148 points from 2023. A similar upgrade will be in order next week when Max Muncy, who has a .798 OPS, returns to relieve Enrique Hernandez, who has a .617 OPS, at third base.

Betts’ return to right field should also be a positive for the Dodgers’ defense. Even if he’s not the defender he used to be, his willingness to drop back allows Miguel Rojas and Nick Ahmed, two strong defenders, to fill in at shortstop.

This can only help a Dodgers pitching staff that was the real culprit for the club’s relative mediocrity during Betts’ absence. He went from a 3.26 ERA in 73 games to a 4.62 ERA in the next 45.

However, things there also seem to be improving.

The Dodgers went through an especially rough stretch of pitching injuries when they activated Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw in July. And so far, the early results from Jack Flaherty and especially Michael Kopech should have the Dodgers thinking they got the best starter. and The reliever was traded at the trade deadline.

They are still waiting for key injuries to heal, including one to $325 million right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (triceps strain), who He doesn’t have it yet a clear recovery timetable.

The wins are starting to pile up, though, as the Dodgers have won four straight and seven of nine. And right on cue.

The National League West is far from won

If the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres still have a chance to take home the NL West crown, well, they should.

Such an outcome seemed unthinkable when the Diamondbacks (11.5 GB on July 2) and Padres (10.0 GB on June 18) were both running double-digit deficits in the National League West, but that was before both claimed their title as Baseball’s Hottest Team.

Since June 29, the Diamondbacks have the best record in MLB at 29-10. If we shift the start of the window to July 20, the Padres have the best record in MLB at 18-3. Either way, the two have identical records of 68-53 and are just 3.5 games behind the Dodgers.

The Snakes had a dangerous offense even before Corbin Carroll (.926 second-half OPS) finally got going, and now Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez are back alongside Zac Gallen, Jordan Montgomery and Brandon Pfaadt in the rotation.

The Padres have been enjoying their own offensive surge with a .796 OPS in the second half, thanks in part to five homers apiece from Manny Machado, Jurickson Profar and the increasingly hard-to-miss rookie Jackson Merrill.

Fernando Tatis Jr. will do it eventually add His heat has been added to the fire again, though the Padres don’t need Yu Darvish to rush off the restricted list. Their pitching staff’s OPS since the All-Star break is by far the lowest in baseball.

The Dodgers do have one advantage, though, that could increase if Betts’ strong return from the IL resonates throughout the rest of the season: an easy schedule.

According to FanGraphs, only three National League teams had a softer landing than the Dodgers. Neither the Diamondbacks nor the Padres are among that group, which is good news for Los Angeles given that both Arizona (5-4) and San Diego (7-3) are already off to winning starts in their respective 13-game series with the Dodgers.

The path to the National League pennant goes through the Dodgers

As the Dodgers struggled to reach a 10-14 streak from July 2 to August 3, the task for the Diamondbacks and Padres was to catch up. And they almost did! But now the goal is to get back after the Dodgers. Not just keep pace, but catch up.

And if none of them can do it, there may not be any team in the National League that can do it.

Remember when the Philadelphia Phillies looked like a runaway train? It shouldn’t seem like forever ago, but it’s amazing how things can change when a team starts with a 46-29 record and then ends with a 23-30 record.

Like the Dodgers, the Phillies have the advantage of an easy remaining schedule. Unlike the Dodgers, they played it relatively safe at the deadline and don’t expect to get any MVP award winners off the injured list anytime soon. Bryce Harper has already served his time and his hot streak is just returning after a cold stretch to close out July.

Ultimately, the Dodgers aren’t in a position where they have to prove they’re the favorites to represent the National League in the World Series. Based on odds like a +170 line at DraftKings and a 28.9 percent chance at FanGraphs, that status is theirs and theirs alone.

All that’s left for Betts, Ohtani and company is to live up to the hype, starting by capturing the No. 1 spot and their 11th NL West title in 12 seasons.