TOKYO — Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts arrived in Japan this week battling an illness, and will not play in either of the club’s exhibition games against Japanese clubs, manager Dave Roberts said Saturday.
Betts will be re-evaluated during the team’s off-day on Monday, and is questionable to be in the lineup for the club’s two regular-season-opening games against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Tokyo Dome.
“He’s been really sick, lost some weight, so we’re trying to get him hydrated,” Roberts said. “We’ll see how these days go before we even think about making a decision for opening day.”
Betts first started feeling under during the Dodgers’ final week of spring camp, sitting out their final two games of Cactus League play.
Roberts said there wasn’t much consideration to having Betts stay back from the team’s week-long trip to Tokyo, noting that “the doctors felt it was safe enough for him to make the trip.”
Betts did not participate in the Dodgers’ workout at the Tokyo Dome on Friday, but did take the field Saturday for pregame drills ahead of their 5-1 win over the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league.
