Mookie Betts hopes to only miss two weeks with cracked rib
by Rowan Kavner
Mookie Betts was placed on the injured list Sunday with a fractured right rib that he hopes will only keep him out two weeks.
Betts suffered the injury in the first inning Wednesday after colliding in short right field with center fielder Cody Bellinger. Betts said neither player heard the other calling the ball off. He played the rest of the game but was still feeling residual soreness days later.
Betts was scratched from Friday’s lineup, but X-rays were negative. He was originally in Saturday’s lineup before getting scratched again, at which point further testing revealed the fracture. Betts was surprised to learn the severity of the injury when his ribs started to feel worse while preparing to play Saturday.
“I feel all right,” Betts said. “Sore, but it is what it is. It’s a cracked rib, so you’re going to feel sore. But after the play, the next inning it started hurting. I thought it was just a little bruise or something. So I tried to play through it and it got worse over the next couple of days, and then now we’re sitting here.”
It is Betts’ first trip to the injured list this year after fighting through an injury-plagued 2021 season, primarily because of his hip. The teammate he ran into Wednesday dealt with a similar injury last September, when Bellinger missed a week with a fractured rib. Betts, whose injury is higher up on the ribs, hopes to only miss two.
“We’ll take the next couple of days to not do anything and let it start the healing process and then just go as tolerated,” Betts said.
Manager Dave Roberts anticipates a week of no baseball activity for Betts before the Dodgers know more. Roberts said the injury is only to one rib. He expects Betts will still need to deal with some discomfort whenever he is ready to return.
“I don’t expect him to be pain free,” Roberts said. “But I think with Mookie, and this is more of a Mookie question, as long as it’s not at a point where it could affect something else, then you have peace of mind to kind of play through it. A guy like Mookie who plays every day, you’re obviously used to playing through some type of discomfort.”
Betts was batting .273/.349/.535 with 17 home runs before the injury. He was baseball’s one of hottest hitters in May, posting a 1.157 OPS with 12 home runs, before slashing .193/.207/.316 through 13 games in June.
Despite some recent struggles, he doesn’t look at the reset ahead as a silver lining.
“I know I wasn’t hitting, but I wasn’t that far off,” Betts said. “I hit a couple balls hard, but none of them landed. I didn’t really get out in May, so it’s kind of hard to hold that for all of the season. It’s all going to balance out.”
Quick Hits:
· In addition to placing Betts on the IL, the Dodgers also activated left-handed pitcher Andrew Heaney, recalled infielder/outfielder Zach McKinstry and optioned right-handed pitcher Reyes Moronta. Heaney starts Sunday after missing two months with left shoulder discomfort.
