Cody Snavely
Tokyo—The 2025 Major League Baseball season is less than three days away. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs will begin a two-game series in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, March 18th, and Wednesday, March 19th.
However, one player who has been absent over the last week is three-time World Series champion and new starting shortstop Mookie Betts.
Before the team left for Tokyo, Japan, Betts missed the last few Cactus League games, causing some concern about whether he was dealing with an undisclosed injury.
With Betts making the full-time transition from right field to shortstop this offseason, Betts had gotten ample playing time this spring to get as many reps in the new position as possible and ramping up faster than usual with the early start to the regular season.
Betts was also a no-show for yesterday’s Game One exhibition against the Yomiuri Giants, and now we know why.
According to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, Mookie Betts had been dealing with an illness before the team even left for the overseas trip, a severe enough illness that he had lost some weight.
Despite the illness, Betts was at the ballpark having a catch and doing some light baseball activities, for what it’s worth.
Roberts stated that Betts would not play the second exhibition game tonight and is considered day-to-day. The Dodgers will reevaluate his status on Monday’s off day before the start of the two-game series against the Cubs.
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