The Los Angeles Dodgers enter in the 2026 MLB season chasing back-to-back-to-back World Series Championships, while the Dodgers leading man, Mookie Betts, is looking for his fifth.
Betts was removed in the bottom of the first inning against the Washington Nationals on April 4, for what was described as ‘back pain.’
“Later that night, Betts had an MRI on his back that revealed the oblique strain, which the club believes he suffered on a checked swing,” according to Sonja Chen from MLB.com. “Even before Betts underwent imaging, manager Dave Roberts said it was unlikely that Betts would play the next couple of days.”
Betts is on the 10-day IL, despite oblique injuries typically taking 4-6 weeks to recover. The shortstop took it upon himself to provide an update on what could be a concerning injury.
Mookie Betts Says He ‘Feels Great’ In Road To Recovery With Oblique Injury
Ahead of the 2025 World Series rematch against the Toronto Blue Jays, Mookie Betts spoke to the media to provide spread relief regarding his injury.
“I feel great,” Betts said. “Honestly don’t even notice that it hurts. I mean, I have to do certain movements, but it’s very specific movements. So yeah, I think we we’re in a much better spot than originally anticipated.”
Although comforting to hear that their team leader is doing well, Betts and the Dodgers have not provided a real timeline for his return. However, Betts is familiar with oblique strains having suffered one in 2018.
“I knew,” Betts said when asked if he recognized that it was an oblique strain. “I’ve had an oblique before, back in 2018, but that was on a swing. I knew that one was much worse than this.”
“This is much less severe than that. Much, much less severe than that. I should be back a little quicker than that,” Betts later added.
Betts’ missed two weeks in 2018 and returned in impeccable form to write his MVP campaign with the Boston Red Sox.
Mookie Betts’ Statistically Slow Start To 2026 MLB Season
Despite the Dodgers 4-2 start the regular season, the offensive–or lack there of–was an area of concern in the first two series against the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Cleveland Guardians.
Their star players like Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Kyle Tucker, and Mookie Betts had not performed up to par with their paychecks. However, a dominating series sweep against the Nationals seemed to add some life into the Dodgers’ bats.
Betts was asked to comment on the Dodgers offense after overcoming a 3-0 deficit, “It’s a new day,” Betts said on SportsNet LA.
“That’s really it. Nobody in here is panicking or anything. It’s one week and it’s probably not going to be our last week that we don’t hit well. We can’t get emotional. We’ve got to just stay the course. Stay the course, and everything will be all right,” Betts stated.
Betts was able to get his offense rolling in the series opener, going 2-for-6 with a home run. The very next day, he was placed on the 10-day IL.
Before his injury, Betts was 5-for-28 and two home runs.
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