How will Dodgers adjust to Betts, Yamamoto injuries? | Baseball Bar-B-Cast

Yahoo Sports senior MLB analysts Jordan Shusterman and Jake Mintz explain why two key injuries are a ‘big deal’ for the N.L. West-leading Dodgers. Hear the full conversation on the “Baseball Bar-B-Cast” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

Had the Dodgers just regular 21 series win over Kansas City, we would not be starting with them.

However, when Mookie Betts gets hit in the hand and has a fracture when Yoshinobu Yamamoto leaves his start early and has a strained rotator cuff and it's gonna be out for some time.

We are going to start with the Dodgers because while they still have a massive lead in the NL West, while Shoe Otani and Freddie Freeman look outstanding.

Freddie has been on fire lately, right when I was starting to doubt that he was having gonna have a career year again.

Um This is a big deal, uh how they choose to shake up the lineup, how they choose to go with the rotation.

It sounds like Bobby Miller is going to be returning this week.

So that's good news.

We know Clayton Kershaw is also on the comeback trail.

Um I am very fascinated to see how this, this offense kind of reshapes.

Muncy still isn't back yet uh because Mookie has just been so important.

Now, the good news for the Dodgers is that Miguel Rojas has also been sneaky really solid.

So him being their shortstop is not the biggest deal in the world, however, still offensively, they, they are taking a hit here.

And, uh, yeah, this is, you know, Mookie hasn't missed a lot of time in his career.

So anytime that Mookie's not playing, it is, it is a big deal.

It seems like in Mookie's case, he will be back for the postseason, Yamamoto as well, but there's definitely reason to be slightly more doubtful with him just as is the case with pitcher injuries in the case of Yamamoto.

Ok.

It's a great reminder that when you give any pitcher 12, 3, 25 it comes with an inherent baked in risk that anything bad could happen to their arm at any given time.

Yamamoto over his last few starts was starting to turn that corner and showcasing the specialness that he, that had been advertised around him and especially in that start at Yankee Stadium.

I was there.

I mean, it was electrifying, right?

And so it was like, this is the prince that was promised, right?

And that was one the conversation when he signed.

Now, the other is what we're seeing now, which is arms are fickle, arms are tissue paper and hopefully he will return at some point.

But it's just a good reminder that, you know, life is short as our arms, maybe it will, uh, you know, drag them down further.

We'll, we'll see, you know, the offense was in a really bad place, but Mookie was a part of that.

He had started heating up again.

But Freddie and Otani this weekend, man.

Oh my God, like we, they are.

And I, I'm guessing Roberts hinted, probably leading towards Otani leadoff, which is pretty fun.

I think that's what I would do if I was him.

But we'll see, we'll see how this lineup starts to look ready for a spin cycle right here.

This is how Roberts is gonna, is gonna play this ready.

You know, these guys going down, obviously, it's, it's tough for our club, but what it's gonna do, it's gonna open up opportunities and spots for some young players to prove themselves in our lineup.

Um And that'll be beneficial to our, you know, our, our club moving forward.

And now while I do think that some of that is, is Gobbledygook, there is an element of it to that where it's like that's true.

The Dodgers need some of these young guys to prove that they deserve to be in the lineup in October.

And I, I'm not gonna sit here on a baseball podcast and tell you that Mookie Betts fracturing his hand is a good thing.

Like I'm not an idiot.