What has been an underwhelming and disappointing season thus far for Mookie Betts took another turn Sunday when he was scratched from the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup due to an allergic reaction and eye trouble.
“He woke up with allergies, couldn’t keep his eyes open,” manager Dave Roberts explained. “It’s an allergy thing, so we’re getting drops and kind of trying to manage it. It’s kind of one of these things right now that’s compiling. It’s where we’re at, but we’re going to need him.
“It’s something that hasn’t happened before. Again, he wants to be in there. But a player that the vision is impaired, doesn’t make sense for anyone.”
It was a second consecutive game Betts wasn’t in the lineup for, and fourth since May 22. He was given a night of rest on Saturday, which Roberts hoped Betts would fully utilize and not so much as touch a bat. Betts went on to make a pinch-hit appearance in the ninth inning of a loss.
On the season he’s batting .240 with a .782 on-base plus slugging percentage to go along with 15 doubles, five home runs and 17 RBI over 43 games. Betts has been hampered by back and left shoulder trouble at various stretches this year.
He did claim to have recovered from the back stiffness but also couldn’t rule out the drop in production as being related to the minor injury issues. “He’s very frustrated,” Roberts acknowledged.
“A guy like Mookie, who’s one of the leaders on this ballclub, he feels like he’s letting the team down. Truth of the matter is he wants to be out there, and just can’t physically [Sunday]. The other days, it’s my decision to not play him. If I look back at other days he hasn’t played, that’s my decision, not Mookie’s.
“So he’s frustrated as far as kind of the nagging stuff. It’s not something that’s going to linger the rest of the year. This kind of instance just popped up late [Saturday] night, so that will pass.”
Betts continuing to push through nagging injuries was not a surprise but also somewhat required. Up until this past weekend the Dodgers were without Cody Bellinger and Zach McKinstry, and the likes of AJ Pollock and Corey Seager remain on the 10-day injured list.
Barring a scenario in which it absolutely is required, the Dodgers are not entertaining the thought of putting Betts on the IL. “We haven’t talked about that and I don’t foresee that,” Roberts said.
“I think it’s one of those things that sometimes people just sort of grind to try and get traction. I certainly don’t envision that (IL stint) at any point.”
Convincing Betts to rest
The Dodgers have often erred on the side of being more conservative than not when it comes to monitoring usage and playing time. Betts hasn’t been the most open player to accepting rest throughout his career, and that remains part of ongoing dialogue.
“I think there’s been a lot of conversations. He wants to be in there every day, just like all of our guys. He’s an everyday player and has been his entire career,” Roberts said. “For me to discount where he’s at physically and to just run him out there because he’s Mookie Betts is unfair to him and the team.
“With the conversations with the training staff, performance staff, him himself, I made decisions on giving him days. I think those are ongoing, and I like to have those with all of our guys.”
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