Betts (oblique) will travel back to Los Angeles on Sunday and could be activated from the 10-day injured list Monday ahead of the Dodgers' four-game home series against the Giants, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.
Betts was cleared to embark on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday. He's gone 2-for-5 with a walk and a run scored across two minor-league outings, and it looks like the veteran shortstop has progressed enough in his recovery from a right oblique strain to return to the Dodgers. If Betts is activated off the IL, then Hyeseong Kim and Miguel Rojas would both stand to lose out on playing time.
Betts (oblique) will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday.
Betts landed on the injured list April 5 due to a strained right oblique, and his time on the shelf was slightly extended due to a setback he suffered in late April. He was cleared to play in a sim game Thursday and is now ready to test his oblique in a competitive setting. The Comets confirmed that the eight-time All-Star will play for them Friday and Saturday, leaving the door open for him to return to the Dodgers' lineup by the end of their weekend series against Atlanta. Otherwise, he could be activated ahead of Los Angeles' four-game series versus San Francisco.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Cleared to face live pitching
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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday that Betts (oblique) is on track to face live pitching in a simulated game Thursday, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
If Betts experiences no setbacks with his strained right oblique during the upcoming workout, Roberts suggested that it could be the final step before the 33-year-old heads out on a rehab assignment. Because he's been on the shelf since April 5, Betts will likely need at least a couple of games in the minors to regain his timing at the plate. Once he's deemed ready to return from the 10-day injured list, Betts should settle back in as the Dodgers' everyday shortstop, resulting in Hyeseong Kim fading into more of a utility role.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Working on bat speed
Rotowire
Betts (oblique) is focusing on increasing his swing speed and is getting closer to kicking off a minor-league rehab assignment, MLB.com reports.
Betts has been stuck on the injured list since April 5 due to a right oblique strain. He had a brief setback in late April but seems to be back on track. Though he'll need some time in the minors to knock off rust before he's activated, Betts could still be back with the big-league club before the middle of May.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Back on track after setback
Rotowire
Betts said Wednesday that he recently resumed hitting in the batting cage after he was briefly shut down from the activity when he experienced soreness in his right oblique while taking batting practice on the field, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
Betts feels that he's "turned a corner," so the setback seems to have been a minor one. He hopes to try taking batting practice on the field again soon. Betts had been aiming to begin a rehab assignment as soon as this weekend, but that could be delayed a bit. The 33-year-old has been sidelined since early April.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: May begin rehab stint within week
Rotowire
Betts (oblique) could kick off a minor-league rehab assignment as soon as the weekend of May 1-3, per MLB.com.
Betts has been sidelined since early April due to a right oblique strain. The star shortstop resumed swinging a bat about two weeks later and has continued to take batting practice in the cage. Manager Dave Roberts said Friday that Betts is in line to start a rehab stint either during the coming weekend or the following week, so a return to the big-league roster during the first half of May appears to be feasible.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Cleared to take cuts
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Betts (oblique) resumed swinging a bat over the weekend, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.
Betts has been making steady progress while rehabbing a right oblique strain suffered in early April. Manager Dave Roberts noted that Betts will need to progress to hitting off a tee and soft toss before gaining clearance for batting practice, per Plunkett. A more exact timetable for his return could come into focus once he's given the green light to take batting practice.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Said to be 'symptom-free'
Rotowire
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Friday that Betts is "symptom-free" in regard to his strained right oblique, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
Betts said at the start of the week that he's "light years" ahead of schedule in his recovery, and Roberts' comments Friday affirm that outlook. While the star shortstop isn't expected to be ready for activation off the IL when first eligible April 15, it's looking increasingly likely that he'll beat the initial 4-to-6 week timeline. Per MLB.com, Betts has been participating in defensive drills but hasn't yet resumed swinging a bat.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Improvement with oblique injury
Rotowire
Betts (oblique) said Monday that he already feels "light years ahead of where I thought I was going to be," Sonja Chen of MLB.com reports.
Betts tweaked his right oblique in Saturday's game against the Nationals and landed on the 10-day injured list Sunday. It's an injury type that usually necessitates longer than a minimum stay on the injury list, but Betts' encouraging update Monday suggest he could be back before the end of April. Hyeseong Kim is handling shortstop for the Dodgers on Monday and will continue to get reps at the position while Betts is out, with Miguel Rojas, Alex Freeland and Santiago Espinal also in the mix.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: IL bound with oblique strain
Rotowire
Manager Dave Roberts announced Sunday that Betts was diagnosed with a right oblique strain and is being placed on the 10-day injured list, Jack Harris of the California Post reports.
Betts exited Saturday's contest with the injury, which was originally labeled as lower-back pain. An MRI revealed it's actually an oblique issue, which carries an expected recovery timeline of 4-to-6 weeks, per Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register. Hyeseong Kim is joining the Dodgers in a corresponding move and is expected to split time at shortstop with Miguel Rojas while Betts is unavailable.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Headed for MRI
Rotowire
Betts will undergo an MRI on his back Saturday evening, Jack Harris of the California Post reports.
Betts was removed from Saturday's game against the Nationals in the first inning with lower-back pain, and the Dodgers will send him for testing to determine the extent of the issue. Manager Dave Roberts described the injury as "more moderate than significant," though he is already ruling Betts out for at least the next couple days. Miguel Rojas and Alex Freeland are candidates for playing time at shortstop while Betts is sidelined.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Exits early Saturday
Rotowire
Betts was removed from Saturday's game against the Nationals in the first inning with lower-back pain.
The 33-year-old infielder drew a walk during his lone plate appearance and scored shortly afterward on a Freddie Freeman double, but Betts was replaced on defense when the Dodgers took the field for the bottom of the inning. The severity of his injury is still unclear, but the team may send him for imaging to determine whether he's dealing with a structural issue. Miguel Rojas entered as Betts' replacement Saturday and will likely be the next man up to start for Los Angeles if the 2018 AL MVP has to miss additional time.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Slugs second homer Friday
Rotowire
Betts went 2-for-6 with a home run, two total RBI and two total runs Friday in a 13-6 victory versus the Nationals.
Betts gave the Dodgers their first lead with a two-run blast in the third inning, two batters after Shohei Ohtani tied the score with a three-run homer of his own. Betts has two home runs and seven RBI through Los Angeles' first seven games after logging a modest 20 long balls and 82 RBI across 150 regular-season contests last year. However, Betts is batting just .179 (5-for-28) so far, with three of his five hits going for extra bases.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Lifts three-run homer
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Betts went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in Friday's 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks.
Betts gave the Dodgers a short-lived lead in the third inning with his first homer of the season. The 33-year-old is 2-for-8 with four RBI and one strikeout over his first two games of the season. Betts is operating as the Dodgers' everyday shortstop for the second year in a row. He's looking to bounce back from a somewhat difficult 2025 regular season, in which he posted a career-worst .732 OPS with 20 home runs, 82 RBI, 95 runs scored and eight stolen bases over 150 contests. He should get some positive regression, as his .258 BABIP last year was also a career low, though gains in luck could be partially offset by some age-related drops in terms of skills.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Belts first spring homer
Rotowire
Betts went 1-for-3 with a solo home run Sunday in a Cactus League win over the Cubs.
Betts went deep for the first time this spring with a third-inning solo shot to center field. The veteran shortstop has managed a relatively light workload this spring, as Sunday was just his seventh Cactus League game. Betts has gone 6-for-19 (.316) with four runs and two RBI in exhibition action.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Nearing spring debut
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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Thursday that Betts won't play in a spring game until at least Sunday, and maybe not until "early next week," Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.
Betts isn't dealing with an injury, but Roberts has intentionally held him out of Cactus League contests thus far. The veteran manager stated that the Dodgers "wanted to ramp [Betts] up differently," per Plunkett, and further explained, "I wanted Mookie to start a little bit later as far as not getting into spring training ready to go, and kind of use spring training to build up." Betts is looking to rebound from a subpar season offensively, as his .732 regular-season OPS last year was the lowest mark of his big-league career.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Likely to hit third in 2026
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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday that he's leaning towards using Betts as the team's No. 3 hitter against both right- and left-handed pitching in 2026, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.
Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani will continue to serve as the club's leadoff hitter during the upcoming season, but Roberts has yet to decide who will bat second and fourth in the Dodgers' star-studded lineup. The 33-year-old Betts primarily served as the Dodgers' No. 2 hitter in 2025, so the move down one spot in the order shouldn't dramatically affect his fantasy value. Instead, the bigger question is whether he can halt or potentially reverse the decline at the plate and as a baserunner he displayed in 2025; Betts' .258 average and .148 ISO were the lowest marks of his career, and his eight stolen bases were his fewest since his 2014 rookie campaign, when he played just 52 games.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: 'Rewiring' body after down 2025
Rotowire
Betts said Saturday that he's spent the offseason "rewiring" his body after falling into bad habits during a down season offensively in 2025, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
Betts' .318 wOBA last season was easily the worst of his career. The cause of his regression at the plate, Betts believes, was twofold: the preparation for becoming a full-time shortstop threw off his normal routine, and an early-season stomach virus that caused him to lose 20 pounds sapped his strength and led to bad habits. Betts said he's now "in a really good spot" as he looks to bounce back in 2026 in his age-33 campaign. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts indicated over the weekend that "you could certainly see" Betts batting third this season behind Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Tucker, though nothing is set in stone yet in regard to the lineup.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Will retire after contract runs out
Rotowire
Betts said on the "What Drives You with John Cena" podcast that he will retire when he contract runs out following the 2032 season, Brent Maguire of MLB.com reports.
Betts will be 40 years old following the conclusion of his 12-year, $365 million contract, so it's unsurprising to hear he plans to hang up his cleats at that point. The 33-year-old is coming off a down 2025 campaign offensively, having slashed .258/.326/.406 with 20 home runs over 150 regular-season contests. However, Betts thrived defensively in his first season as a full-time shortstop, finishing with a plus-6 Outs Above Average, per Baseball Savant.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Staying at shortstop next season
Rotowire
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday that Betts will remain at shortstop next season, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
The news comes as no surprise after Betts earned a plus-6 in Outs Above Average in 2025 in his first season as a full-time shortstop. Betts played just one inning in right field in 2025, so he will enter the 2026 campaign with only shortstop eligibility in fantasy leagues.
