Mookie Betts returned to action on May 11 from a five-week absence caused by a strained oblique and has yet to look like himself. It’s not an ideal development for the Dodgers as a franchise cornerstone has been a straight-up non-factor for them a third of the way through the season. And yet Los Angeles sits atop the National League Central, enjoying a 2 1/2-game lead over the Padres.
This is what happens when there’s a superteam lording over Major League Baseball. Yes, it’s the big names and immense top-tier talent that catches the eye when you peruse Dave Roberts’s roster. But the depth may be more important. Baseball is a 162-game marathon, a six-month war of attrition just to earn a spot in the knockout round come fall. Having a perennial MVP candidate and beating heart of the clubhouse limping toward June with a -0.4 WAR would spell doom for all but a handful of teams.
