This past Tuesday, Mookie Betts scored from first base on a double from Corey Seager in the eighth inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 3-2 victory against the Atlanta Braves.
It ended up being the winning run, but for the Dodgers and Betts it meant a lot more than that. It was a sign Betts is finally fully healthy again.
The Dodgers lost Mookie Betts twice this season to the injured list as he has been dealing with a bone spur in his right hip, but now he is feeling fully healthy again and he is no longer thinking about the injury.
“I think I’m in a good place mentally,” Betts said. “Just knowing I can actually run and go play the game the right way, play it hard and not have to worry about anything definitely helps clear my mind. It’s easy to just focus on the game.”
Betts called that run a moment for him where he was able to “check that box off” and get over any possible concerns about his hip starting to hurt him again.
“I think we all saw it was tough for me just to make it to third in general,” Betts said, alluding to prior trouble he had with running the bases and staying on the field. “Now I was able to score from first and stay in the game. My mind is clear to just go play.”
After the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked if Betts would have been able to score from first base earlier in the season, and while it may have been possible, he felt it would have been unlikely.
“I don’t think so. I mean, he might have, but there might have been a cost for him to get to home,” Roberts said. “Even just seeing him dive and accelerate through home plate with the dive, and the way he was moving around second and third, he just has that confidence.
“Clearly his body feels a lot better. That’s a good thing for us.”
Roberts happy to see Betts healthy
Roberts also said after the game on Tuesday that it’s encouraging and reassuring to see Betts healthy and providing a spark for the team.
“Obviously we saw it a lot last year, where guys fed off his emotion and play,” Roberts said.
“Evident [Tuesday] and [Monday], big hit, big homer, big walk, the scoring from first base, there was a stolen base attempt. When he’s doing things like that and being dynamic, you know his body is feeling better.
“You look back 10 days ago, really happy, because this conversation we’re having, didn’t seem like it was going to happen. Really happy that he’s feeling well.”
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