Los Angeles Dodgers star shortstop Mookie Betts was placed on the 10-day injured list after fracturing his left hand when he was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning of Sunday’s win over the Kansas City Royals, the team announced Monday.
Betts was hit in the left wrist by a 97.9-mph fastball from Royals reliever Dan Altavilla and went to the ground in extreme pain. Betts, who hadn’t been hit by a pitch this season, took a few minutes before walking to the dugout.
The team said Sunday that Betts won’t need surgery and there is no timetable for his return, and they had no further comment on those aspects of the situation on Monday.
“It’s just going to be rest and let the bones heal,” manager Dave Roberts said after Sunday’s game, calling it a big blow to the team.
Betts was last on the injured list in June 2022 with a cracked right rib.
Betts, 31, was 0-for-3 on Sunday to lower his batting average to .304. He entered the game leading the Dodgers in batting average (.307) and still leads the ballclub in on-base percentage (.405), hits (86), at-bats (283), triples (three) and walks (47) in 72 games. He also has 10 home runs and 40 RBIs in a National League-high 331 plate appearances.
A seven-time All-Star and six-time Gold Glove Award winner, Betts was the 2018 American League Most Valuable Player while with the Boston Red Sox. He is a career .295 hitter with 262 home runs and 796 RBIs in 1,337 games over 11 seasons with the Red Sox (2014-19) and Dodgers.
“He’s a superstar player; he’s a big part of our ballclub,” Roberts said Sunday. “But our guys understand that that’s part of baseball and you got to move forward. And guys are going to get opportunities and got to play well.”
In a corresponding move, the Dodgers recalled infielder/outfielder Miguel Vargas. Vargas, 24, started last season as the Dodgers’ starting second baseman before being sent down to Triple-A Oklahoma City after a poor performance through the first 81 games.
This will be his second stint in the majors this season. After being called up in mid-May, he hit .250 (5-for-20) in eight games with one home run and four RBI.
He was batting .290 with eight home runs and 38 RBIs in 41 games at Oklahoma City this season.
–Field Level Media