Mookie Betts injury leads to new role for Shohei Ohtani

The Los Angeles Dodgers were dealt a major blow on Sunday when former MVP Mookie Betts suffered a fractured left hand. Betts is projected to miss anywhere from 6-8 weeks, which leaves a massive void at the top of the batting lineup, but Shohei Ohtani’s ready to put on his cape and play hero.

While losing Betts is not what anyone wanted to see, it didn’t take Dodgers manager Dave Roberts long to put on his thinking cap when it came to replacing his star second baseman/outfielder.

For the first time as a Dodger, Roberts penciled Ohtani’s name into the leadoff spot for Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies. According to Roberts, batting leadoff could become the norm for the reigning AL MVP.

While he’s not the player the Dodgers initially wanted hitting first, getting Ohtani as many at-bats as possible should only help boost the offense’s chances of getting off to a hot start. He may not be the same on-base specialist as Betts, but Ohtani’s bat definitely has a lot more pop, which could lead to stronger run production.

Ohtani has only seen 280 plate appearances in the leadoff spot in his career, where he’s had a batting line of .272/.371/.527. Aside from the on-base percentage, all marks are below his career averages, but not by much.

Still, if Ohtani can still come close to those same numbers or still produce at the same level as his current line of .314/.388/.601, the Dodgers will be just fine. But that still won’t help them replace Betts’ spot in the outfield.