The Los Angeles Dodgers have been playing without Mookie Betts as he recovers from right hip inflammation due to a bone spur that has forced him to the 10-day injured list for a second time since the All-Star break.
The former American League MVP visited with specialists in L.A. to figure out options and ended up receiving a second cortisone shot, which appears to have provided the relief he sought.
“I just had a brief conversation with Mookie and he said it was gone. And he said it with a smile,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about the pain in Betts’ hip.
“I haven’t seen him smile like that in quite some time. Now to ramp up the activities and get into swinging the bat, running around, throwing the baseball and catching balls in the outfield, that’s the next progression.”
Although the injury still might need to be addressed in the offseason, Betts is feeling like himself again. “It’s the first time I’ve felt normal in a long time, so super excited,” he said.
“Got a couple more days to get some more drills and stuff to make sure I’m good and ready to go. … I feel normal now. I feel like the beginning of Spring Training. There’s no pain at all or anything. Hopefully I can stay on this path and I’ll be perfectly fine”
Betts remained at a loss for what caused the bone spur, but he is relieved to no longer be dealing with the serious effects that crept up during the first week of the season.
“It’s just good to feel like me again,” Betts said.
This season, the two-time World Series champion is hitting .277/.378/.521 with 17 home runs and a 142 wRC+ while putting up 3.3 WAR in 87 games, which earned him his fifth career All-Star selection.
Next steps fo Betts
Betts completed running and agility drills with a Dodgers trainer the past two days and next will get to take at-bats in a simulated game on Sunday.
“II don’t know as far as rehab assignment, or kind of getting some guys together to do it here at Dodger Stadium,” Roberts added. “If all goes well, sometime next week he’ll be active.”
Betts made it clear the running he’s been able to do would not have happened prior to the second injection. “No chance,” he said.
“The pain that was going on then, I couldn’t really take that. That locked me up pretty good. Little pain that comes and goes now, that’s fine. I can work with that.”
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