ANAHEIM -- Mookie Betts returned to action on Tuesday for the Dodgers’ spring finale at Angel Stadium after battling a stomach illness that had kept him out of the lineup since March 9.
Betts ended up playing five innings at shortstop and going 0-for-3 in three at-bats. He’s also set to face live pitching on Wednesday’s off-day, but the Dodgers expect him to be ready for Opening Day.
“He's going to go through a work day as far as some grounders and some stuff on the field, in the cage as well,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Angels. “But he'll be ready for the home opener.”
Betts’s first two at-bats in two weeks were unremarkable in themselves, but he did visibly run out a groundout to third at full speed in his first plate appearance. In his third and final at-bat of the game, Betts made solid contact up the middle, but Angels second baseman Kevin Newman was right there to make the play.
Defensively, Betts was able to make a bigger impact on the game. He got to test his glove out in the bottom of the second, tracking down a pop fly from Angels third baseman Luis Rengifo that veered off into shallow left field. In the bottom of the fifth, Betts fielded a routine ground ball with ease to throw Newman out at first.
“[I felt] great,” Betts said postgame. “Just excited to be out there.”
One major area of concern was the reports that Betts had dropped to 157 pounds from his normal playing weight of 175, though Roberts revealed that Betts has started putting some of the weight back on by Tuesday and that his strength has tested at normal levels.
“The strength testing that he's done speaks to his strength, where it's at, which is a good thing,” Roberts said. “We've managed the dehydration. He's holding food down the last couple days. So all signs pointed towards where we've turned a corner, and we feel good about where he's at before tonight.”
Betts himself said he actually feels stronger now than he did before he got sick, though he doesn’t have any idea how long it’ll take to get back to his normal weight, acknowledging this is the first time he’s gone through something like this.
“My body's been perfectly fine. It's only been my stomach, literally only my stomach,” Betts said. “I've been working out, doing everything perfectly normal. It was just hard to hold down food.”
While he’s still considered day-to-day, Betts feels like the illness is behind him and fully expects to play in the Dodgers’ home opener on Thursday.
“I played in the game,” he said. “Once I stepped foot in on the dirt, I’m ready to go.”