Mookie Betts was unable to play in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first two games of the regular season in Tokyo last week due to an illness — and he still may not be able to suit up this week.
The Dodgers swept the two-game set overseas against the Chicago Cubs, despite Betts missing both games and even Freddie Freeman missing action.
It was revealed that Betts was dealing with some sort of stomach bug, and he hasn’t been able to keep solid food down for nearly two weeks, forcing him to lose 25 pounds.
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“You weigh yourself and you weigh 150 pounds. Before I left spring, I was 175 (pounds). It’s hard to just not eat. … My body is just kind of eating itself. Literally every time I fuel my body, I throw up, and I don’t know what to do about it. I’m scared to eat. I don’t really know what to do” Betts said this week.
Betts was actually sent back to Los Angeles from Japan to undergo testing and said, “Everything has come back clean.”
“I mean, I feel great. Like, my body feels great. I’ve been able to work out. I’ve been able to do pretty much everything but eat, which is strange,” Betts said. “So the symptoms have kind of gone away. I just have to figure out how to get my stomach to kind of calm down.”
“My vitals, everything has come back clean. Blood tests, everything has come back really, really clean and healthy,” he added. “I guess it’s just something with my stomach being really aggravated, so I’ve just started some new medicine now to try and calm my stomach down.”
The Dodgers and Angels were meeting up for two exhibition games before Opening Day, but Betts was a late scratch on Sunday and will not play Monday, either.
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Now, the reigning World Series champs might miss Betts on American soil, as well.
“It’s just hard to fathom not eating and going to play a game,” Betts said. “So it looks like I’m just going to be light for a little bit. Maybe I play uphill a little bit for the beginning of the season. But no, I just want to play, man. I’m tired of sitting, tired of throwing up, tired of doing all this. I really just want to play.”
The eight-time All-Star slashed .289/.372/.491 in 116 games last year, the fewest he’s had in a season since becoming a full-time player, excluding the shortened 2020 campaign.
Whenever Betts gets back, though, he’ll slide right to the top of an order that includes Freeman, Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith, Max Muncy, and Teoscar Hernandez.
L.A. hosts the Detroit Tigers on Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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