Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters, including Juan Toribio of MLB.com, that Mookie Betts is headed to the injured list due to a cracked rib. Roberts said that the corresponding move will likely be the recall of Zach McKinstry, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
Betts sat out last night’s game due to this issue, though he was back in the lineup today. However, shortly before game time, he was scratched as his soreness lingered. As the club continued testing, an MRI revealed a cracked rib, per Ardaya.
The expected timeline for the absence of Betts isn’t known at this time, but the loss of a talent like his for any amount of time is significant. The former MVP is having yet another excellent campaign, hitting .273/.349/.535 for a 148 wRC+. Combining that batting line with his excellent defense and baserunning, Betts has already accrued 3.3 wins above replacement on the year, in the estimation of FanGraphs.
The Dodgers are having another excellent season, as has come to be the norm for them. However, they appear to be in for a fight this year, as their 40-24 record is just percentage points ahead of the Padres, with the Giants lurking just three games back. That means that every inch will count in the postseason race to come, with the loss of Betts marking a significant blow.
Sounds extremely painful.
Yes, but only when you breathe.
Since when did everything become “excellent”?
Mookie is having a good year, excellent would be his 2018 season.
Dodgers are having a good year, excellent would be their 2020 season.
Sorry I’m just not big on hyperbole, because it diminishes what is truly “excellent”.
Excellant post, Fever Pitch. 😉
Because, Fever Pitch, he’s a Dodger. When describing a Dodger, you’re required to take it up a notch. If he were playing for the Brewers or the Mariners, Betts would be having a “somewhat disappointing season considering the investment the team has in him”.
I understand what you’re saying, @Fever, but terms such as excellent, very good, and good are subjective and offer a wide range of outcomes. Any player with a 141 OPS+ and on pace for approximately a 7.5 rWAR season is having an excellent year, even if it’s short of his personal best. His near 11 win season in 2018 is pretty ratified territory. It’s not that he’s not having an excellent season this year, but that we need an even stronger word for his 2018.
No matter. A cracked rib sounds like something that can take him out of action for a while. I never cracked a rib, but I have had a ligament strain in my rib cage that led me to only watch somber TV documentaries about World Wars, famines, and hurricanes to ensure I didn’t watch anything that would make me laugh. Quite painful.
*rarefied*.
Does this really warrant discussion in a comments section? This is akin to arguing whether or not certain quarterbacks are “elite.”
If you don’t like the adjective used, I think it’s reasonable for you to arrive at your own conclusion. You can have your own differing opinion. But let’s talk baseball, not dive into a discourse on diction.
When offense in the game is down so drastically, having a good year becomes the exception, so in comparison, becomes excellent.
Nonsense, Pappas!
He is having an excellent season for someone picked in the fifth round.
Lord – I agree they are subjective. I could say Franchy is having an excellent season, and I could try to justify my word choice by comparing this season to his prior ones. But that doesn’t mean I’m right in saying his season has been excellent.
I’m just expressing my belief that the bar is being lowered here, whether you compare Mookie’s performance to other MLB players (16th in WAR, 15th in OPS) or you compare it to his prior seasons (1.078 OPS in 2018, .927 OPS in 2020, .915 OPS and league-leading 135 Runs Scored in 2019, .897 OPS and league-leading 359 Total Bases in 2016).
Did the Dodgers give the 2nd-largest contract in MLB history to Mookie because of the expectation he would be the 16th-best player? Ummm … don’t think so.
As most people know, I’m a huge fan of Mookie and I’m not a Bloom fanboy … but so far he hasn’t lived up to the contract, and trying to justify the contract by calling this season “excellent” seems like something only Mookie’s agent or Boras would do. I think even Mookie would disagree with calling this season “excellent”. Just my opinion …
Crab – Comments section is for discussion of the article above the comments. Disagreeing with the writer’s contention that Mookie is having an excellent season is on-topic. It’s not like I’m criticizing grammatical or spelling errors.
And who knows, Darragh might read these comments and perhaps conclude that excellent wasn’t the best choice for describing Mookie’s season. Nobody is perfect, I certainly welcome differing viewpoints from others.
stymee – I totally agree! But in all honesty, is being the 16th-best in MLB (which he is this season) really worthy of being called excellent?
If you believe it is, that’s cool … I respect your opinion even if I don’t agree with it. Personally for me, a player has to at least be in the Top Ten to be in the discussion.
@Fever Pitch Guy. Maybe it’s this comment system playing its usual tricks, but I don’t see how your comment responds to mine or anybody else’s for that matter.
@BlueSky_LA
He did it to be on the top. Not cool!
But also something i have done…
I do concur with you;
at least continue the flow of the comments.
it’s somewhat “polite” to acknowledge previous post imo.
But thank you for elaborating on “cracked rib” for me = )
BlueSkies – I agree, the comment posting order often doesn’t make sense. When I reply to a particular post, sometimes somehow my comment drops way down below a bunch of other comments that I didn’t reply to … it’s very weird.
Daang. I apologize then : )
Samer – No worries, all good my friend.
Massage therapy?
He isn’t Deshaun Watson
As long as it all ends in a happy ending then its all good.
In HS I was a pitcher. I got hit in the chest with a line drive. The ball hit me so hard it cracked my rib and the stitches of the ball were on body. It’s painful. Speedy recovery Betts from Phillies nation
I accidentally hummed one in on a kid in high school and did the same. I threw so hard for my age and division, that he swung through the pitch in fear, so it was a strike, but cracked rib, stitches on his ribs, whole nine yards. I felt really bad, apologized to his parents etc, he had to get carted off the field. All and all it was like a 30 min delay.
Not even the next batter. The kid who replaced guy I hit, 2 pitches later sends a come backer right into my gut and shatters 2 of my ribs, one of them puncturing and collapsing my lung. Immediately collapsed and had to get carted off too. All and all the 2nd inning last around an hour and ten minutes lol.
I didn’t believe in cosmic karma until that day. It was so freaky.
That’s one hell of a story – I’ve never heard of something like that. Wow.
Sounds like a helluva game
How did this injury happen?
See my above comment…. Massage therapy – they get aggressive. Moral of the story, do not trust Correa’s masseuse…. He’s violent.
Truthfully, no idea.
Outfield collision
Was that the one with Bellinger?
Yes, happened when he collided with Bellinger.
Wow, I saw that, it didn’t seem that severe. Mookie seemed to be alright right after it, so I guess it just hit him the wrong way.
That sucks, I hope Mookie recovers quickly. He’s awesome to watch play the game.
Bellinger breaks everything he touches it seems
Time for freeman to step it up
I cracked a rib sneezing. It didn’t feel great.
I ribbed a sneeze crackin’. Crack is whack.
I sneezed in my crack ribbing. It was worth it.
I still just sneezed and cracked a rib. You guys one upped me mos def.
With Muncie, Taylor, Bellinger and Turner hitting AND playing like crap, they need Betts
I thought Taylor was hitting relatively well (OBS between 750 and 800, good amount of RBIs)
The hyperbole about the Dodgers in the media has been out of control from day one, but the team is literally a shell of itself. They are no longer a sure bet to even make the playoffs (they still should).
Coming into 2022 the Dodgers top starting pitcher and relief pitcher were projected to be Buehler and Trienen, they are unlikely to contribute much, if at all. For those of us who watch all the games, Kimbrel’s saves are enough to make you drink. Muncy, Bellinger, and Justin Turner are a shell of their good seasons. Even Freddie Freeman seems like a slap hitter as he goes to the opposite field frequently and is on pace for about a dozen HR’s.
Chris Taylor is having a solid year, about what is expected.
Trea Turner and Will Smith have played well, and Gavin Lux has been solid, but not much power. Betts could miss 6 to 8 weeks if Bellinger’s similar injury is predictive.
If Gonsolin or Anderson turn back into pumpkins, this team could struggle to make the playoffs.
This is the reality of the current 2022 Dodgers.
I’ve been saying this for a while now. This team is clearly not as good and this was before injuries to Treinen, Buehler and Betts. Some regression in bullpen. Uncertainty in starting pitching depth and quality. Gonsolin and Anderson have been pleasant surprises but we’ll see if that is sustainable. But the offense has been very inconsistent. Too many two runs or less performances, which gets masked by occasional large outputs. Overall hitting stats obviously down from prior seasons but more importantly need to figure out how to produce 4+ runs on a more consistent basis. Tough to do that with too many easy outs and less power. Defense has been suspect. Lux and Muncy together in an infield at the same time is scary bad. We’ll see how it goes.
greatdaysports – I agree. It’s not just at the plate. This team has had way too many runners make outs on the base paths, multiple outfield collisions and near misses due to lack of communication, and many lapses on defense in general. This team has lacked focus for a while. Just going through the motions it seems.
Winning too much causes complacency. They have lost their hunger and their older hitters are aging poorly.
Everyone is going to have to step it up. Especially Muncy and JT.
Lorenzo Cain is available.
That should help. Cain is batting .187.
Dodgers are 26th in the league in runs scores in June and losing Mookie for any period of time does not help that one bit
7-8 in June, struggling (as some of us predicted). Can’t play the DBacks every night!
Rsox and others – Thank you all for the EXCELLENT points that Darragh apparently doesn’t see, as the Dodgers are clearly not “excellent” so far this year. Even if he hasn’t followed the team and didn’t know about all the points that were just brought up in this thread, one look at BR would show him the Dodgers currently have just a .625 Winning Percentage which is worse than last year’s .654 and far worse than 2020’s .717 Winning Percentage.
Da da da da da, crack that rib. Give the past a slip. Step on a crack. Break your mamas back.
Q: Are we not men?
A: We are Mookie.
Someone sleeping with a pillow on his ribs for the next couple of weeks.
I cracked a rib once and that was the only way l could even lay down without being in pain.
I’m no professional athlete but a cracked rib is a cracked rib. Hope he recovers soon.
I don’t think being a professional athlete insinuates a very high level of pain tolerance… anymore at least. We haven’t seen a Cal Ripken or even an Aaron Rowand type toughness in a while.
He cracked a rib. Has nothing to do with toughness. He cracked a rib. Geez!
I feel off a ladder working on my roof (yes, I’m an idiot). Cracked seven ribs. A month later, a sudden move led to on of the fractured ribs puncturing a lung. This is not a fun injury, and considering the core strength these guys need to hit and throw, Mookie may be out a couple of months.
Aaron Judge fractured a rib in September 2019 while diving for a ball. It went undiagnosed and he ended up with a collapsed lung. Different situation, but it highlights the potential severity. The main concern here is Judge suffered the stress fracture in September but it hadn’t healed six months later. The story kind of got lost because the sport then shut down for several months due to COVID. I suspect he was still injured six months on because he continued to work out, never giving the rib rest to repair itself. Regardless, I can’t see Betts returning shortly. Feels like a month plus injury.
Some of the lack of communication in the outfield at MLB level is astounding.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1537288348078706688
Loud out there, Fred!
Cracked rib? 2-3 weeks minimum
He’s not the only one to be cracking a few ribs today. Or Crab legs. Happy fathers day!
An oblique can take as much as 2 months. Cracked rib not as bad but they’ll be cautious.
Zack is now on Option #3, two more until they have to ride him out, waive, or trade.
Tough break for the Dodgers! This is a bad injury and will take months to heal. I’ve always worry about signing Mookie to a long term contract because of his slight build. Don’t get me wrong he’s a great player when healthy, but he has to use every bit of his core to hit successfully with power and there’s where his slight body type is a challenge especially as he ages.
He has been a bit injury prone since a Dodger. The hip last year and now the ribs. Didn’t seem like much of a collision.
As good as Mookie is he has not yet lived up to his contract and likely won’t. We’ve seen flashes of eliteness but consistency over a full season not there. Obviously still a great player but that contract will turn out to be a dud.
Terrible break for Los Karens.
Since some of these people recently commented on Tatis, I will remind them that “Betts needs to take some calcium supplements”…