The Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2025 season was supposed to be a bullish defence of last year’s World Series title. Instead, it has so far been a year defined by injury.
As of the time of writing, the Dodgers currently have 14 players on their injured list, including 11 on the 60-day disabled list. Most recently, their excellent closer Evan Phillips – who had already missed the 2024 World Series run with shoulder discomfort – was announced this week as needing to undergo Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow, and will miss the remainder of this season.
All 14 of those players, though, are pitchers. It could also be 15, if you include Shohei Ohtani, who is still yet to pitch this year. Perhaps, then, it is time for a position player to get hurt. And given the nature of the Dodgers’ season to date, perhaps it would be fitting if said player was to get hurt in a strange way.
Another Injury Misfortune For The Dodgers
Reportedly, outfielder turned shortstop turned outfielder turned shortstop Mookie Betts will miss at least the next couple of games due to a fracture in his toe. The injury was not one caused by anything out on the diamond, however. Instead, Betts claims to have hurt himself by stubbing his toe walking to the bathroom in the dark.
We have all done it, or at least, something similar to it. And to suffer a fracture as a result seems particularly unfortunate. Nevertheless, when it comes to luck with injuries, the Dodgers right now are having precisely zero.
More Struggles For Betts
Having been moved all around in his career to date, Betts has been the Dodgers’ primary shortstop this season, and has played at no other positions. That said, he is not having his best season; so far, Betts has hit for a .254 batting average, a .338 on-base percentage and a .405 slugging percentage, with eight home runs and five stolen bases in 53 games. All of those numbers represent career-lows.
While Betts has appeared in almost every game this season, it should be noted that he suffered with a mystery illness in spring training that set him back substantially. Reportedly losing 25 pounds, Betts got healthy enough to be able to make the opening day line-up, but “healthy” and “as strong as he should be” are not the same thing.
Betts’s performances at the plate had been improve. After posting a .678 OPS in the month of April, he had improved to a .742 OPS in May; both numbers still greatly trail the exceptional .891 mark Betts has posted in his career, yet they showed a man trending the right way as he was getting back to the kind of baseball he has been known for for a decade. With the news of this fracture, though, that recovery will take a while longer.
The Dodgers reportedly plan to sit Betts for the remainder of the Dodgers’ current series against the New York Yankees before re-assessing his condition from there. They do not however expect Betts to need a trip to the disabled list, as the condition is more about pain tolerance more than risking any further damage.
The Dodgers and the Yankees will play the second game of their three-game set tonight. Veteran utility man Miguel Rojas is expected to start at shortstop in his absence.
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