Mookie Betts did not play in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants and won’t be in the lineup for the team’s second matchup at the Tokyo Dome either.
Miguel Rojas started at shortstop in the Dodgers’ first exhibition game in Japan.
“He’s been really sick, lost some weight, so we were trying to get him hydrated. He’s going to workout a little bit today, but he won’t be playing tonight or tomorrow,” manager Dave Roberts said of Betts.
“And when we have our off day, our workout day, we’ll kind of see how it is.”
Betts has not played in a game since March 9. He was due to be in the Dodgers’ lineup the following day but began to fall ill.
“He called me that morning, so it might’ve started the night prior,” Roberts recalled.
Despite Betts being under the weather before the team left Arizona, he was not in danger of getting left off the Dodgers travel roster for Japan.
“The doctors felt it was safe enough for him to make the trip,” Roberts said.
The 32-year-old is heading into another season with visions of cementing himself as the Dodgers’ shortstop. Betts and the Dodgers are optimistic a full offseason to prepare has him in better position to take on shortstop compared to being moved over late in spring last year.
Will Mookie Betts miss Tokyo Series?
Betts went through a workout before the Dodgers’ played the Giants on Saturday, which was an encouraging development considering he was not at the stadium the day prior. Roberts indicated Betts “felt better” than he did earlier in the day.
But whether or not Betts will make the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster for the Tokyo Series is unclear.
“We’ll see how these days go before we even think about making a decision for Opening Day,” Roberts said.
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