LOS ANGELES -- Sunday marked the first time Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts was able to put on shoes since stubbing a toe on his left foot earlier this week. More importantly, it marked the first time he was able to move around.
Betts, out for the weekend series against the New York Yankees after sustaining a fracture to his fourth left toe, played catch and took part in light defensive work ahead of the series finale from Dodger Stadium.
Betts won't start Monday against the New York Mets, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after his team's 7-3 loss Sunday night. The hope at this point is that he'll be back in the lineup Tuesday, avoiding a stint on the injured list.
The Dodgers can afford to wait, having taken two of three games from the Yankees in a highly anticipated World Series rematch.
"I would love to be out there to help the boys play," Betts said, "but I'm just in the mindset of acceptance. There's nothing I can do about it now; just accept where I'm at, watch the boys play. They're balling out, so, just enjoy my seat until it's my turn."
The month of May just finished, with Betts already having been plagued by two bizarre ailments this season. First was a stomach illness that caused him to shed nearly 20 pounds and miss the team's opening series from Japan near the middle of March.
Two months later, the Dodgers' outfielder-turned-shortstop said he banged his toe against a wall in his house while walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night after the team returned from a six-game road trip Wednesday. X-rays revealed a fracture.
In between, Betts has proved to be a more-than-capable major league shortstop, but his offensive numbers are slightly down. Betts is slashing .254/.338/.405 with eight home runs and five stolen bases in 53 games. His .742 OPS is 55 points lower than his career mark heading into the season.
Betts denied that steering so much of his focus toward a major position change has prompted his offense to lag behind, pointing to last year, when he slashed .308/.407/.500 when starting games at shortstop.
"You can point to it and try to make it about shortstop, but it's not about shortstop," he said. "You look at last year, I was playing pretty well playing shortstop and I had no idea what I was doing. Now I'm way more confident in how I show up and prepare each and every day, so the shortstop argument can't be it."