We have our first Dodgers injury that Dave Roberts is already bound to fumble

Whenever Dave Roberts offers an injury update, Dodgers fans know to expect the exact opposite of whatever he said.

It's almost uncanny how often it happens: a player gets hurt, Roberts downplays, the player's injury is revealed to be far more severe than it initially seemed. At this point, it almost feels like he's in on the joke. How else could a guy whose job it is to know his players' statuses better than anyone get it so wrong, so often?

And the latest is one of the worst injuries the Dodgers have seen in a while. On Saturday, Mookie Betts was removed from LA's second game against the Nationals with back tightness. Roberts said afterwards that he expected Betts to "miss at least a few games," but he would undergo an MRI to understand the severity.

On Sunday, the Dodgers made the move official and recalled Hyeseong Kim from Triple-A. Betts was placed on the 15-day IL with an oblique strain — far more serious than back tightness — and "a few games" turned into 4-6 weeks. At least.

Roberts said he would "take the under" on that timeline, but added that oblique strains are tricky.

So, basically, we should probably expect Betts back in July.

Mookie Betts officially hits Dodgers' IL with oblique strain after Dave Roberts downplayed injury

Sure, Roberts has a lot to keep track of — and he tends to sunnyside about most things, not just injuries — but come on, man. Would it really hurt to just say you don't know?

The last time Betts missed an exceptional amount of time was 2024, when he was hit in the hand during a mid-June game against the Royals and sat for almost exactly two months. Optimistically speaking, if we trust Roberts' timeline, he'll be back by early or mid-May. But as we've already established, it's almost impossible to trust Roberts' timelines.

With an oblique injury, it seems likely that Betts will need a rehab assignment, which he skipped in 2024, unless the Dodgers are in dire straits and think it's absolutely necessary to get him back sooner than later. But we all know they won't be in dire straits, and they always err on the side of caution when it comes to injuries.

We'd love Roberts to be right. If Betts can get through a return to play progression and do a short stint in Triple-A without any pain within a month, fantastic. But we won't hold our breath.