March 17th, 2025 at 9:15 am 
by Ron Cervenka Although it has been known – or at least speculated – for some time now, the Dodgers made official on Monday morning that 32-year-old superstar infielder/outfielder Mookie Betts will not play in the Dodgers – and MLB’s – 2025 season-opening series against the Chicago Cubs at the Tokyo Dome in Japan very early (PDT) on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.
As the entire baseball world knows, the fifth-round draft pick in 2011 by the Boston Red Sox out of Overton High School in his hometown of Nashville, TN has been dealing with an undisclosed illness, which the Dodgers have repeatedly said is not COVID-19. But regardless of what it is, the bat and glove of the eight-time All-Star, seven-time Silver Slugger, six-time Gold Glover, and three-time World Series Champion will be seriously missed.
“He’s not going to play in these two games,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed with reporters early Monday morning. “When you’re dehydrated, that’s what opens a person up to soft tissue injuries. We’re very mindful of that,” Roberts added.
(Robert Gauthier – LA Times)
Over his 11 MLB seasons, Betts owns a Hall-of-Fame-worthy .294/.373/.524/.897 career slash-line. In his five seasons with the Dodgers, he is slashing an equally impressive .284/.372/.530/.902, with 132 home runs and 361 RBIs in the 587 games he has played in Dodger Blue.
The (sort of) good news is that the Dodgers have 36-year-old veteran utility infielder/outfielder Miguel Rojas with his very impressive .375/.464/.458/.923 Spring Training slash-line to fill in at short for the ailing Betts.
…but still
Play Ball!
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15 lost pounds is potentially VERY serious. It would be bad for any person but for an athlete for his abilities and only 5′-9″ tall it’s a BIG concern. I feel certain the Dodgers will slow walk his return so he doesn’t injure himself AND to jeep him from developing bad habits in his desire to prove he’s “back”.
100%. I’m surprised that they even let him make the trip to Japan. I get that he is very much a team player, but having him recover at home would have been a much more prudent decision.