Dodgers Team News

Dodgers News: Mookie Betts and Justin Turner Out of Lineup on Saturday

Usually you wouldn’t expect to see your star players getting rested for the third game of the season, but hey… Colorado. Moreover, Dodgers fans were a bit perplexed to see Gavin Lux in the leadoff spot and not Mookie Betts. Additionally, Justin Turner had been replaced by Chris Taylor batting third.

Thankfully, there’s nothing to panic about on the health front. Before the game, Dave Roberts explained his decision.

We got 7 in a row so I felt like this was a good day to get them an off day and get them back in there tomorrow.

Both Betts and Turner have been on their feet quite a bit over the first two games of the season. Mookie has 4 hits (2 doubles) while scoring three runs and JT is coming off a 3 hit night on Friday, with 4 base knocks on the season as well.

Doc added that Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger will sit for Sunday’s matinee at Coors.

With the thin air in Colorado, and with the long season in front of us, the reasoning is sound to exercise caution with players that played deep into October a season ago. And with the deep Dodger bench, the team can afford to sit two stars and not terribly miss a beat.

Walker Buehler gets the ball for the Dodgers on Saturday against the Rockies. In 7 career outings (5 starts), Butane owns a 5.12 ERA over 31.2 innings pitched at Coors Field in Colorado. First pitch is at 5:40 PM PT on SportsNet LA. There’s no word yet on whether we’ll get an encore performance from Friday’s rally cat.

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NEXT: Dave Roberts Reacts to the Cat That Stormed the Field at Coors

Clint Pasillas

Clint Pasillas has been writing, blogging, and podcasting about the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2008. Under Clint's leadership as the Lead Editor, Dodgers Nation has grown into one of the most read baseball sites in the world with millions of unique visitors per month. Find him online on Twitter/X or his YouTube channel!

9 Comments

  1. You know it was not their choice. Last thing you want to do is sit out when you have four hits in two games.

  2. Been on their feet a lot? Was Betts hurt in that HBP? Turner I can understand and Taylor needs some playing time. Seager and Bellinger off Sunday? Maybe it is a handicap to make the teams more equal. Roberts should be reminded that he manages best by doing nothing.

  3. Stupid to be resting these players! San Diego is lights out this season and every game is important! 7 8&9 hitters are like 3 lost innings. Beatty and Pollock look like a waste of time. Doc, please don’t screw with this lineup!

  4. “And with the deep Dodger bench, the team can afford to sit two stars and not terribly miss a beat.” Are you serious? Any time any one of these 4 sit, the team is not as good. And two at the same time? Even worse. These is a reason most of the bench guys are bench guys…they aren’t as good as the starters. And “playing deep into October” seems like a weak reason since they played a 60 game season. Periodic rest for all the regulars is wise, but 2-3 games into the season seems odd.

    1. I give up on Roberts who will tinker his way out of winning . Gonna rest Seager today who is hitting nearly .700 ? Lucky he has such a good team .

  5. Roberts is the ultimate nervous Nellie . In a full season he will lose the games because he is so jumpy with players . Thank god he has a good team , even Forrest Gump could manage this team l

  6. It’s like taking a break after a hundred yards when running a marathon. It’s just not done.

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