Dodgers: Mookie Betts on verge of major breakout after hip injury

The Los Angeles Dodgers struggled throughout April and May, and battled myriad injuries, disappearances, and high-profile depth issues over the course of the season’s first half.

They essentially have the best record in baseball entering the second half, and have hit their stride for what you’d conservatively call a grand total of zero games. Unbelievable.

Among the prominent Dodgers who haven’t seemed locked in at any point in 2021 rests Mookie Betts.

His counting numbers are several ticks below expectations despite his piled-up WAR, defensive prowess and superstar instincts, which always carry the day even if the ball isn’t traveling. Betts has been very good, not great, and has taken days off for any number of imperceptible injury issues, leaving fans constantly hoping he’s found and cured the right one and will be returning to MVP form shortly.

This time, it’s a hip issue for Betts, which sidelined him through the weekend prior to a planned return against the Giants on Monday.

Hopefully, there’s no lingering damage and the issue’s as minor as they say, considering Betts had recently been on an absolute tear.

Dodgers: Mookie Betts needs to be MOOKIE BETTS after hip injury.

It’s quite an endorsement of the overall talent level of this team that they’ve managed to rise to the top of the league without half a rotation and with “Mookie Betts or Alex Verdugo?” simmering as a semi-legitimate question (well, not really, but still).

The Dodgers will need Betts at his finest if they’re going to make a final push for the division, though, and he was just about there before being dinged again in the weekend series against Colorado.

An 11-for-16 line with four walks and six extra-base hits in 20 PAs is the kind of consistency and power any big-leaguer strives for, but when Betts is locked in, he’ll pop a similar streak out every month or so. Barely a pitch escaped him in the games that sandwiched the All-Star break. Every sticky stuff-less slider looked like a beach ball. Every first-pitch fastball looked like the 14th pitch of a tiring duel with JA Happ.

You get the picture. Prior to this bit of irritation, Betts was turning up the dial to Monster Mode, which is why every Dodgers fan is crossing their fingers he doesn’t backslide again after he’s cleared to return.

The best version of Betts is better than just about any baseball player who’s ever lived, and places him on equivalent turf with that Trout character across town (and talk about injury prone…).

Overall, Betts has overcome a “slow” start and an “out-of-character” first half to ride a 141 wRC+ into the stretch run, and he’s posted a 1.046 OPS over his past 28 days of action.

Though the world might not have noticed, Betts firmly turned a corner at the start of June, then toggled into hyperdrive before being knocked off course this past weekend. Odds are, though, that starting now, this hot streak will be the norm for the second half, and we’ll collectively shrug off the debates about the value of the 28-year-old reigning best player in the world.

Dodgers: Here’s why LAD can’t release Trevor Bauer … yet

There have been calls for the Los Angeles Dodgers to release Trevor Bauer, but here's why they can't do it just yet. It's too early.