Since Sept. 1, Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts has a 1.197 OPS. Only Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz has a better OPS among 184 qualified hitters this month.

Betts' resurgence has come from the leadoff hole, which raises an interesting question: when Shohei Ohtani is activated from the injured list — he's eligible to be activated Wednesday — who will bat first for the Los Angeles Dodgers?

Manager Dave Roberts said Sunday that Betts could continue in the role.

"That's my first kind of thought," Roberts said, "but until [Ohtani] gets back, when he gets back, then I'll kind of potentially, read, react, if it's a left/right situation or just supplant him back there in the one. I really haven't thought too much about it."

“I think that certainly there is an uncertainty with Shohei, all the while expecting him to be back,” Roberts added. “But you do got to kind of prepare for whatever, and I just think that Mookie’s swinging the bat well, has hit there many times throughout his career, so it just kind of makes sense.”

Ohtani had been the Dodgers' leadoff hitter en route to back-to-back MVP seasons in 2024 and 2025. The Dodgers had no reason to remove him from the role until injuries to his right biceps, left knee and neck left him unable to play.

When Ohtani was first forced out of the lineup on Sept. 3, Roberts selected Tommy Edman to lead off. Edman had a .346 on-base percentage at the time, better than Betts' .304.

Remarkably, Betts has almost caught up to Edman in the last 19 days; his OBP is up to .325 while Edman's is down to .330.

As for the reasons behind Betts' turnaround, Roberts identified a couple factors.

"The results drive kind of his demeanor," Roberts said. "He's not a chase guy anyway, but he's cut that down considerably. The quality of contact is considerably higher. And then now you've got that attitude, that confidence, that we're used to seeing with Mookie."

Betts was the Dodgers' primary leadoff hitter from 2020-23, then ceded the spot to Ohtani midway through the 2024 season — in spite of, not because of, his results at the plate.

Flash forward two years, and Betts was struggling to the worst season of his major-league career. Through the end of August, his .701 OPS ranked 123rd out of 163 major league hitters with at least 400 plate appearances.

Betts' turnaround came just in time for the postseason — and potentially to keep him at the top of the Dodgers' lineup in October too.

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