Dodgers Send Mookie Betts Home Early From Tokyo Series to Recover
The Los Angeles Dodgers were faced with a tough decision regarding Mookie Betts ahead of Tuesday’s 4-1 win against the Chicago Cubs to open Major League Baseball’s regular season.
After the starting shortstop suffered through his trip to Japan with an undisclosed illness, the Dodgers opted to send him home Monday.
“Mookie flew home early evening, late afternoon yesterday and arrived safely,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “It just made the most sense for him to get back to a regular routine. That’s kind of where we’re at and we all support it.”
The reason for sending him home has to do with the weight Betts has lost over the last week. Manager Dave Roberts said his infielder had lost “close to 15 pounds” due to the illness.
Betts’ health became a priority. Leaving camp at just around 175 pounds, Betts wouldn’t be close to his best 15 pounds lighter.
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“The thing is when you lose a lot of weight, when you’re dehydrated, that’s what opens a person up to soft-tissue injuries,” Roberts said on Monday. “We’re very mindful of that. So to take the next week, call it, to build him back up, his strength, do some baseball activities to get ready for the home opener.”
Betts developed symptoms the day before the Dodgers left for Tokyo but he still made the trip thinking that it would be a quick bug and he would be feeling better after a day or two. He went through a workout on Sunday before one of the team’s exhibition games, but he was visibly tired which forced the Dodgers to rule him out for the entire two-game series.
In his place, the Dodgers started Miguel Rojas at shortstop and rearranged the batting order, moving Tommy Edman into the two-hole.
Rojas went 1-for-4 and Edman was 1-for-5 with a run batted in.
Betts is expected to be in the starting lineup for the Dodgers’ domestic Opening Day on March 27 against the Detroit Tigers at Dodger Stadium.
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Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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