Losing a player like Mookie Betts at the top of a lineup should derail an offense. The Dodgers have the ultimate luxury though by being able to slide Shohei Ohtani into that spot instead.
Ohtani has been Betts' replacement as the Dodgers' leadoff man for four games. In those four games he's batting .444 with a .523 on-base percentage. He has three doubles, two home runs, seven RBIs and six runs scored. He's also drawn three walks while striking out twice.
It's important to note that a four-game sample pales in comparison to the number of games they're expected to miss Betts. The four games also took place at Coors Field -- MLB's most hitter-friendly park. It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect the production to come down a bit when Los Angeles leaves the Mile High City.
However, there's reason for optimism that Ohtani's scorching hot streak has to do with more than just a ballpark.
Over his last 12 games Ohtani has a .348 batting average and a .436 OBP while drilling four doubles and six home runs. He's scored 15 runs, driven in 13 and drawn eight walks against just six strikeouts.
This is much closer to the Ohtani we saw early in the season before he hit a skid that lasted through the last half of May and into early June. He's hitting for power again, not striking out a ton and drawing more walks. The dip in strikeouts combined with an uptick in walks coincide with an ascension to the mean with the power numbers. That indicates there's a better plan at the plate that's allowing Ohtani to be more selective to find pitches he can drive.
The Dodgers offense won't be at its very best until Betts is back in the lineup, but they will be just fine if Ohtani can keep hitting out of the leadoff spot at the clip he's been on for the last dozen games.
