Mookie Betts is in the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup for the middle game of their series with the New York Mets. Betts returns after last playing on May 28 to finish a six-game road trip.
Betts missed just four games after suffering a fractured fourth toe on his left foot upon stubbing it against the wall upon trying to walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Swelling and discomfort prevented Betts from so much as being able to put on a shoe until Sunday.
Betts then progressed to running bases, completing fielding drills and participating in batting practice before Monday’s game.
“It was a good day for Mookie. Swinging, moving around, taking grounders, looked normal,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on Monday.
“He got in the training room, got it all prepared, and so there’s a little bit to ramp up and sit in a game, cool off, then go back out there. As opposed to getting ready and going through activities. But for my eyes, looking from the ‘pen, he looked pretty normal.”
The toe fracture marked a second odd instance for Betts this year as he contracted a stomach illness at the end of Spring Training that prevented him from playing in the Tokyo Series and caused nearly 20 pounds of weight loss.
Betts has since recovered from that, including putting weight back on, but he’s yet to find his stride at the plate. That now has another obstacle in the form of playing with a fractured toe.
While the Dodgers avoided putting Betts on the 10-day injured list, Roberts acknowledged it would be an issue that lingered for the 32-year-old.
The Dodgers went 2-2 in the games Betts missed.
Dodgers lineup
DH: Shohei Ohtani
SS: Mookie Betts
1B: Freddie Freeman
RF: Teoscar Hernández
C: Will Smith
3B: Max Muncy
CF: Andy Pages
LF: Michael Conforto
2B: Hyeseong Kim
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