Dodgers’ Mookie Betts Timeline to Return Revealed
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters Monday in Denver that star shortstop Mookie Betts is expected to miss 6-8 weeks with a fracture in his left hand.
Betts was struck in the hand by a 98-mph fastball from Kansas City Royals pitcher Dan Altavilla on Sunday. He was immediately removed from the game and placed on the injured list Monday. Miguel Vargas was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take Betts’ roster spot, and Shohei Ohtani is batting leadoff Monday night against the Colorado Rockies. Will Smith is batting second.
In 2021, Seager was hit by a pitch on May 15 and didn’t return until July 30. Critically, he wasn’t an All-Star immediately upon rejoining the Dodgers.
A .265/.361/.422 hitter when he was hurt, Seager saved his best work for the final month of the regular season. From Sept. 3 to Oct. 3, he slashed .396/.470/.733 and hit nine home runs and drove in 21 in 28 games.
While a six-week time to return projects to July 28 at the soonest, give Betts at least another couple weeks — if not longer — to return to his pre-injury form.
Betts, 31, has a .304 batting average, .405 on-base percentage and .488 slugging percentage in 72 games. He’s hit 10 home runs and stolen nine bases out of the Dodgers’ leadoff spot while stabilizing their shortstop position.
While the injury might ultimately prompt the Dodgers to trade for a shortstop — or a utility player who can split time with veteran Miguel Rojas at the position — at least the Dodgers know there’s an outside shot that Betts will return before the July 30 trade deadline.
After Sunday’s game, Betts told reporters he planned to meet with hand specialist Dr. Steven Shin of the Kerland-Jobe Clinic on Monday.
Photo Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Subscribe and hit that notification bell to stay up to date on all the latest Dodgers news, rumors, interviews, livestreams, and more!
Once again teams takes aim at our best players and we do nothing! I don’t care if it was intentional or not the result is the same!
If u allow a team to throw u inside and u don’t push back it will continue!
Anyone remember Hanley Ramirez! Most likely cost us a shot at the World Series! What did deer eyed Mattingly do, nothing! Roberts is following in the same steps!
You really can’t seriously think that the Royals pitcher intentionally threw at Mookie’s hands? That’s a rather small and moving target to hit. Pitching inside is part of baseball. Sometimes it’s intentional and sometimes it just happens!
It’s baseball
Yes indeed that IS baseball and like all sports there is always some amount of injury risk involved. Of all the sports, baseball is what I would call a minimal to medium injury risk sport and being hit by a pitch is certainly one of the biggest risk in the sport. If that pitch had hit Mookie in the back, or thigh, or almost anywhere else but his hand, we wouldn’t even be here in this conversation. But, getting hit on the hand, a very remote possibility in the grand scheme of things, especially being arguably one of the best players in the sport, is a complete bummer!! For him, his fans and his team. IF Roberts were to “order vengeance” and pitch in on batters, with the “intent” of potentially hitting a player, I would lose a lot of respect for him as a manager. The “pitch heard ’round the world’, or at least the league, that hit Mookie was NOT an intentionally targeted pitch to take out the batter. It was …. just baseball. I played for years in organized baseball and was hit by a pitch more than once. HBP’s happen! Period. Feel bad for Mookie and the Dodgers though, no doubt.
My question is why doesn’t EVERY Dodger wear the same hand guard as Ohtani? I’m sure that pad may have prevented the fracture. They make them both both hands.
They wear all kinds of other protective gear why not for their hands?