The Dodgers played their first game of 2025 this morning but the hits have already started to pile up.
The first was with Mookie Betts, who was sent back home to Los Angeles as he’s currently battling some sort of illness. He didn’t appear in either exhibition game in Tokyo and was ruled out for the two games against the Cubs.
I’m not sure what kind of bug Mookie has, but it doesn’t sound fun. There was a report that he’s lost 15 pounds from this illness. There was also a video that surfaced on Twitter of him fielding grounders at the team workout and he clearly looked off and looked like he was battling just staying upright.
It’s not often you see a player miss a game with an illness, let alone multiple games. Usually they battle through it and play on. For Betts to miss four games with this illness and be sent back home, it must be pretty damn rough.
That’s not the only star missing the Tokyo series. An hour before first pitch, Freddie Freeman was scratched from the lineup with left rib discomfort.
Freeman said he felt something in his rib during the pregame batting practice. To make matters worse, it’s in the same exact location as the injury he battled in the postseason. I guess if you want a silver lining, he said it isn’t as severe as that injury was.
Still, we’re only one game into the season and we already have him dealing with an injury that really impacted him last year. Hopefully the next 10 days off can help him out, as he made it through the spring with no issues.
Mailbag
Majority of the mailbag centered around Andy Pages this week!
Geoff Shackelford — Seems Pages has the lead in the centerfield race. I don't get it after how the postseason went. Edman did a super job out there. What's more important, Edman's defense in center or Pages's bat?
Tom — Seems like it’s down to Pages and Outman. Does Outman have the upper hand due to being left handed? With Taylor, Rojas and Hernandez all right handed hitters.
Marilyn Fisher — It seems like all the questions center around Pages so I will add another! Who would you rather see in center, Pages or Kike? I’m not sure the love affair with Pages. It scares me when a ball goes out there!
I don’t like Andy Pages in center field, but the Dodgers really don’t have any other options, at least if they want some good bats in there. Pages’ defense in center field is terrible, but he’s a potential 25+ home run / .850+ OPS kind of player. That’s the reason the Dodgers want him out there.
They definitely have better options defensively, but the bat is in another tier compared to the other options.
Maybe with more reps, he’ll become serviceable out there. I mean, if he can grade out in the 30th percentile or so in center field, the Dodgers will gladly take that. His bat is just too valuable to store on the bench or in the minors.
Tom — What’s the estimated return for our hurt relievers? We have a great bullpen when everyone is healthy.
I don’t have exact answers, as we don’t really know how pitchers are going to respond to injuries and how long it’ll take them to build back up. I’ll just give my guesstimates on when we could see some top relievers return.
Evan Phillips — Definitely sometime in April. Probably mid-to-late month.
Michael Kopech — Probably not too far after Phillips’ return. Maybe end of April or early May.
Brusdar Graterol — Likely after the All-Star break.
Edgardo Henriquez — It was reported he’d miss 4-6 weeks in early March. So maybe first or second week of April.