The Los Angeles Dodgers may have suffered a pair of notable injuries recently, losing shortstop Mookie Betts and right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the foreseeable future, but that doesn't mean the front office is changing course ahead of the July 30 trade deadline. Rather, the Dodgers appear content to play the long game, banking on Betts and Yamamoto returning before October.
"I actually don't think it meaningfully changes anything at this point," general manager Brandon Gomes told Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times. "With the expectation that those guys are gonna be back for the postseason."
Betts, 31, suffered a fractured hand on Sunday that will require six to eight weeks of healing. In 72 games this season, he hit .304/.405/.488 (156 OPS+) with 10 home runs and nine stolen bases (on 10 attempts). His contributions had been worth an estimated 4 Wins Above Replacement, per Baseball Reference's calculations.
Yamamoto, 25, exited his start on Saturday with what has since been diagnosed as a strained rotator cuff. The Dodgers have yet to provide a timetable for his return, though they have expressed their belief that the injury will not be season-ending. (Baseball Prospectus' recovery database suggests it takes about 60 days, on average, for a player to return to action.) In 14 starts this season, he amassed a 2.92 ERA (135 ERA+) and a 4.94 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Baseball Reference's estimate had him down for 1.4 Wins Above Replacement.
Gomes' position is an unsurprising one. For starters, the Dodgers have a nine-game lead in the National League West, tied for the largest in all the majors. For another, even if the Dodgers were panicked or willing to alter their approach, they wouldn't benefit from expressing that sentiment publicly -- doing so would simply cede potential leverage in negotiations.
Besides, it's not as though the Dodgers have to make that call right now. They can see how Betts and Yamamoto progress, and how their stand-in options (including veteran infielder Miguel Rojas) perform over the next month-plus. If things are trending in the wrong direction, Gomes can pivot without it being much of an issue.
The Dodgers' 5-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday improved their record to 47-30.
