Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts provided more insight into the injury that superstar Mookie Betts is dealing with.
Betts has a small fracture at the tip of his fourth toe on his left foot.
Betts sustained the injury at home earlier in the week, after the Dodgers returned from a road trip on Wednesday night. “I was just going to the bathroom in the dark and hit my toe on a wall,” Betts told The Los Angeles Times.
However, Roberts does not believe Betts will require a stint on the injured list, but the 32-year-old is considered “day to day.” The Dodgers are focused on getting the swelling to Betts’ toe to subside and his pain under control, but Roberts acknowledged the nature of the injury is something that could linger “for quite some time.”
“Probably don’t think that four days [off] versus 14 days or 15 days is going to make much of a difference,” Roberts said. Betts will not be available for this weekend’s three-game series against the New York Yankees.
The Dodgers gave veteran Miguel Rojas the start at shortstop during Friday’s 8-5 comeback victory for the opening game of the Fall Classic rematch.
On Saturday, infielder Hyeseong Kim will start at shortstop in place of Betts.
Kim is hitting .366 with five runs batted and an OPS of .859 across 41 at-bats. Betts is not expected to return to the Dodgers’ starting lineup until next week. L.A. is in the midst of a grueling schedule and will continue facing tough opponents in the coming days.
Betts previously missed the start of the 2025 season.
He was absent for the Tokyo Series against the Chicago Cubs because of a stomach illness that caused him to lose nearly 20 pounds.
He also missed an additional game against the Detroit Tigers during the Dodgers’ domestic opening weekend as he returned from the illness. Since then, Betts has played in 53 of the Dodgers’ 56 games this season until Friday’s absence from the lineup. Betts is hitting .254 with eight home runs, 31 runs batted in, and an OPS of .742.
A Gold Glover in right field, Betts made the unprecedented transition to shortstop and has done well thus far at his new position.
The Dodgers’ superstar currently ranks in the 89th percentile in Outs Above Average, a testament to his above-average defense at shortstop. As the defending champions continue their series against the Bronx Bombers, the Dodgers will have to do so without one of their three MVPs in the lineup.