Los Angeles Dodgers team executives and fans have gotten to see an extended audition for a spot in the infield as Mookie Betts has been sidelined with an injury.

The competition between Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland will likely determine who stays on the active roster when Betts returns, but as to when that will be, a lot remains unknown.

Betts injured his right oblique muscle at the beginning of this month in a game against the Washington Nationals.

Team officials have indicated he largely avoided a serious injury, but the father to baby Khari and two other children has been fairly slow in his return to the diamond.

As Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic indicated Wednesday, a lot still remains unknown.

No firm timeline for Betts’ return has been publicly announced, with Ardaya saying that “broadly, it will still be a bit before Betts is back in game action.”

Why no rush? There’s a few reason, but largely, it’s because the back-to-back World Series champions don’t need him yet.

“The Dodgers have taken this slowly; they don’t want this to linger and (as you’ll see is a repeated trend in these answers) the team can afford to play the long game,” Ardaya wrote.

That long game, though, includes some tangible steps toward a return to action.

He already overcame the “biggest hurdle” for those with an oblique injury, a return to hitting, Ardaya said.

“So much of Betts’ swing depends on quick-twitch ability and rotation while keeping his body in sync, which means it’s paramount that his oblique is at 100 percent,” he wrote.

But even beyond Betts’ recovery, being able to get more info on Kim and Freeland could be hugely beneficial to the Dodgers, Ardaya explained, which makes sense.

One day, whether that’s due to an injury, trade or age, the team will have to identify players who can step into the lineup without missing a step.

Knowing more about what Kim and Freeland would do in that moment could be the difference between success and failure.