Dodgers place Mookie Betts on injured list, call up Hyeseong Kim

WASHINGTON –– Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced Sunday morning that Mookie Betts was going on the injured list.

And that his injury was different, and potentially worse, than the team initially feared.

After exiting Saturday’s game with what the club initially described as lower right back tightness, Betts had an MRI on Saturday night that revealed a right oblique strain.

The good news, Roberts said, is that Betts arrived at the ballpark Sunday feeling “better than he thought” he would. While there is no firm timeline yet on how long he will be out, Roberts added he would take the under on a 4-6 week timeline.

Hyeseong Kim was called up from triple-A to replace Betts on the roster for now.

“Obviously disappointed, but just the way he feels today –– and I think he’s had some dealings with (oblique injuries) before –– he said it’s better than he recalls past experience, so that was encouraging,” Roberts said. “Hearing oblique, it kind of gives you a little something in your stomach. But talking to Mookie, I felt a little more reassured today.”

Betts, 33, left Saturday’s game in the top of the first inning, when he felt something in his back while running all the way from first base to score on a Freddie Freeman double. In hindsight, Roberts said the team thinks Betts initially injured himself on a check swing in his at-bat, which ended in a walk.

Without him, the Dodgers now have holes at both shortstop and the No. 3 spot in their batting order.

Defensively, Roberts said he envisions platooning the right-handed-hitting Miguel Rojas (who was in the starting lineup Sunday) and left-handed-hitting Kim at short, leaving switch-hitting Alex Freeland at second in more of an everyday role.

With the lineup, Roberts was still considering options. On Sunday, Rojas was hitting second and Teoscar Hernández was hitting third; though that was impacted by Will Smith, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy all getting scheduled days off.

“He’s Mookie Betts, so it certainly changes (the dynamic of the offense),” Roberts said. “But that’s the great thing about having the depth that a lot of teams don’t have. Being able to plug in a platoon at short and feel like you have good matchups is not all bad.”

Betts had gotten off to a slow start statistically this season, batting just .179 before he got hurt. However, he already had two home runs, and was showing encouraging signs coming off a career-worst performance last year.

Now, the Dodgers will be counting on production from two young infielders who spent the spring battling for their final roster spot, with Freeland and Kim set to get plenty of renewed opportunities.

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Freeland made the team out of camp, and hit a home run and a double in his season debut. But he is just 1-for-13 with three walks since then. Betts’ injury will give him the chance to play more regularly against left-handed pitching now.

Kim rejoins the Dodgers after opening the year in triple-A to keep working on an overhaul of his swing. He was hitting .346 (9-for-26) with a double, two RBIs and four walks with the club’s Oklahoma City affiliate. Importantly, his strikeout rate has been better, too, punching out just seven times in his first 32 plate appearances.

“Just take good at-bats,” Roberts said when asked what he wanted to see out of Kim. “Take the walks when they’re there, control the strike zone. And not expect to carry us. Just be the player he is, bring energy.”