LOS ANGELES -- By shifting Mookie Betts down a couple spots in the lineup, the Dodgers may have awakened his slumbering bat.
L.A. opted to drop its starting shortstop down to the cleanup spot for Tuesday night's 15-6 rout of the Rockies, shifting center fielder Andy Pages up to the two-hole in Betts' place. And the move paid off: Betts took Colorado lefty Kyle Freeland deep for a two-run shot in the first, then tacked on a three-run blast off righty Zach Agnos in the sixth.
It was Betts' first multihomer game of the season and the 32nd of his career. The other part of the swap also worked out nicely for the Dodgers, as Pages also went deep and picked up his MLB-leading 49th RBI.
Entering Tuesday, Betts was hitting 8-for-51 (.157) with a .494 OPS in 12 games since returning from a five-week stint on the injured list with a strained right oblique.
Since returning from a five-week stint on the injured list with a strained right oblique, Betts was hitting 8-for-51 (.157) with a .494 OPS in 12 games entering Tuesday.
Betts began this year hitting third, behind Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Tucker. The lineup changed when he was injured, with Tucker dropping to cleanup against right-handers and fifth against left-handers, which is part of why Betts moved back to the two-hole when he was healthy.
This marked the first time since 2017 that Betts has started a game hitting fourth or lower, and he's likely to hit in the same spot in Wednesday's finale against the Rockies as well. From there, the Dodgers will evaluate what makes sense.
"You see he's not swinging well, you see there's a little bit more anxiousness, tentativeness," manager Dave Roberts said. "It's just to kind of give him a different look. I think that when you're hitting at the top of the order and you're taking on five at-bats in a night and you're not swinging well, it can be a lot to take on. So I feel that moving him down a couple slots just gives him a different look, and look forward to taking four at-bats and make the most of them."
Betts weathered an extended slump over the first two-thirds of last season before turning things around in the final two months. He still ended 2025 with a .732 OPS, his lowest in 12 complete big league seasons.
The disappointing campaign led Betts to focus on "rewiring" his swing in the offseason, and he came into Spring Training feeling like he was in a much better spot. The Dodgers wanted him to take a slower approach to spring, so he only logged 38 plate appearances back then and an additional 32 before injuring his oblique.
As Betts has scuffled, Roberts has seen him take his typical approach behind the scenes: working tirelessly to swing his way out of his funk. While spring was the time to take things slow, now is the time for action.
"I think up to this point, we've done a good job with the workload," Roberts said. "But certainly when you're scuffling, you're not going to stand on the sidelines and hope it turns. So he's grinding right now and excessively working, which I think is the right thing to do right now."
The Dodgers have largely turned the page on a team-wide offensive scuffle that saw them score 75 runs in 20 games from April 21 to May 12, which was tied for the seventh-lowest total in the Majors in that span. They entered Tuesday having scored 73 runs in their past 13 games, the third most in the Majors.
Just as they believed it was only a matter of time for the team back then, the Dodgers are confident that Betts will take a turn for the better as he continues to work.