Los Angeles Dodgers right-back Mookie Bett will be sidelined with a broken rib on Sunday after being scratched in the ribs on Friday and Saturday, the manager said. Roberts to reporters after Saturday’s win over the Cleveland Guardians (LA 7, CLE 1). It is unclear how long Betts will be out of action. “Mookie was getting ready for the game this morning, and he could not relax enough,” Roberts said on Saturday (video). “We obviously ended up scratching him from the lineup and he ended up doing imaging and MRI, and he revealed a cracked rib. He will go to IL tomorrow and the time to come back is basically TBD.” The injury can be found in Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels, when Betts collided with center-back Cody Bellinger in a Taylor Ward ball in the first inning. Bets stayed in and played the rest of the game. The Dodgers had a day off on Thursday before Betts was scratched on Friday and Saturday. Betts underwent an x-ray on Friday that did not reveal the fracture. An MRI scan was performed on Saturday, revealing a fracture, indicating that a hairline fracture is more likely than a major fracture. Either way, he will miss at least 10 days, and possibly much longer, depending on the severity of the fracture. The Dodgers are already without their best starting pitcher (Walker Buehler) and the best relief (Blake Treinen) for most, if not the rest of the season. Undoubtedly losing their best player in all positions for any length of time could be disastrous. Los Angeles has a 7-10 record in its last 17 games and has fallen into a virtual tie at the top of the NL West with the San Diego Padres. Chris Taylor already plays on the left field in almost every game, so he is not really a candidate to play on the right field while Betts is off the field. All it does is move the hole in the row to another position. Journeyman utility Eddy Alvarez started on the right field on Saturday and seems to be sharing time with Hanser Alberto and Zach McKinstry moving on. Betts, 29, hits 0.273 / .349 / .535 with 17 home games this season. It is in the second year of its 12-year extension, amounting to 365 million dollars.
