TOKYO — Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts won’t be available for Opening Day and will not take part in either of the two Tokyo Series games against the Chicago Cubs due to a lingering illness, manager Dave Roberts said on Monday.
The Dodgers are contemplating sending the former MVP home early to Los Angeles to continue to recuperate.
“That’s on the table,” Roberts said.
Roberts said the hope is still that Betts, a six-time Gold Glove winner who is attempting to play shortstop again in an unprecedented transition, will be available starting with the Dodgers’ home opener on March 27 against the Detroit Tigers.
Betts contracted the illness shortly before the team boarded its flight to Tokyo on Wednesday and did not take part in either of the team’s two initial workouts at the Tokyo Dome. He took ground balls before each of the Dodgers’ two exhibition games against the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers but showed clear signs of fatigue, at one point dropping to a knee for close to a minute between rounds. He was not at the Dodgers’ voluntary workout on Monday, ahead of Tuesday’s season opener.
Betts is “still trying to find his way,” Roberts said, hoping to regain weight and strength. Roberts said the Dodgers are still trying to pinpoint how Betts got sick.
“There’s still debate (about what caused it),” Roberts said. “I just don’t think what you eat would last a week.”
Whatever the illness was has had lingering effects; Roberts noted that at one point Betts had lost 15 pounds and was severely dehydrated. The issue is not believed to be contagious, however, as none of the other 31 players in the Dodgers’ traveling party are experiencing any symptoms.
“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. “We’re very mindful of that. So to take the next week … to build him back up, his strength, do some baseball activities to get ready for the home opener.”
At the very least, it’s a brief interruption of what is expected to be a critical start to the season for Betts, who said he is looking to بعض “الإحراج” لقد شعر في أول غزو بدوام كامل في شورتستوب في الربيع الماضي عندما كان بداية يوم الافتتاح المفاجئ للفريق في هذا المنصب في جوكتوك سماووم في سيول ، كوريا الجنوبية. في العام الماضي ، كان لدى Betts حوالي 15 يومًا إشعارًا للعب في منصب لم يلعبه على أساس بدوام كامل منذ أن كان في المدرسة الثانوية. استمرت التجربة قبل عام حتى يونيو ، عندما كسر Betts معصمه عندما أصيب بالملعب. عندما عاد ، فعل ذلك في الحقل الصحيح.
أمضى Betts فصل الشتاء في الاستعداد للتعامل مع بدوام كامل ، قائلاً إنه تقدم من مدافع عيار A-Ball في وضع يمكنه من القادر على اللعب هناك بشكل يومي. لدى Dodgers حالات طوارئ في مكانهم سوف يستفيدان من هاتين المباراتين ضد Handers Cubs Lext Shota Imanaga و Justin Steele: قال روبرتس إن المخضرم ميغيل روجاس سيلعب كلتا المباراتين في شورتستوب.
(الصورة: جون إ. مور الثالث / غيتي إيرش)
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