You don’t have to be a sabermetrics wizard to know that Dodgers superstar outfielder Mookie Betts had a rough few weeks of late. Oh sure, you can argue that the 28-year-old Nashville, TN native and fifth-round draft pick by the Boston Red Sox in 2011 out of Overton High School in Nashville hit .250 and .256 in March/April and May respectively. But we’re talking about a guy who carried a career .301 batting average in his six seasons with Boston that earned him four All-Star appearances, four Silver Slugger awards, one MLB batting title, and the 2018 MLB Player of the Year award.

For the most part, Betts’ early-season struggles were the result of nagging injuries to his back, forearm and shoulder. He even missed one game after having an allergic reaction that affected his vision.

But that was then and this is now.

In the 13 games in which Betts appeared since June 1, he is 14-for 51 (.275), with two doubles, one triple, three home runs, and seven runs batted in. And even though these are still non-Betts-like numbers, they are most certainly trending in the right direction.

“All it takes is one pitch or one swing, but it’s been so in and out, it’s been kind of tough,” Betts told reporters after his 3-for-5 night in Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on ‘Reopening Day’ at a packed Dodger Stadium. “I’m just trying to take it one day at a time and just focus that way. Maybe here in a month or so we can take a look back. But right now, it’s just one day at a time.”

Among those three hits on Tuesday was a 417-foot solo home run to center field in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Dodgers the lead in a then 3-3 game. It also sent the sold-out Dodger Stadium crowd of 52,078 into an absolute frenzy

“It was a great feeling knowing they’re finally cheering on my behalf, since 2018,” Betts said. “I’m just happy and thankful that we finally got to this day.”

That 2018 thing was, of course, in reference to the 2018 World Series, when Betts and the Red Sox defeated the Dodgers in five games.

“Mookie really came to life tonight, so that was fun to see; we just have a way about rallying around him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame. “

As for that sell-out thing, those 52,078 on hand represented the largest crowd to watch a professional sports league game in the United States since the COVID-19 pandemic began in February of 2020.

“You can feel it. You can just feel the buzz, the anticipation,” said Roberts. “There were just different moments in the game where crowd on their feet, Mookie a homer, the base hit late, and just seeing warm bodies in the stands and a lot of Dodger fans, so it was just what we had hoped. And for our guys to come through with the win for the fans was great.”

Welcome back, Mookie!

…and baseball.

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