Dodgers’ Mookie Betts out of lineup vs. Sox, could return Saturday

Mookie Betts did not travel with the Dodgers and will not play Friday night when Los Angeles faces the host Boston Red Sox as he deals with a personal matter, manager Dave Roberts told reporters Friday.
However, Betts is expected to arrive in Boston around the 7:15 p.m. ET start of Saturday’s game. Roberts said he is unsure whether Betts will be in the lineup Saturday.
“There might be some things going on that he might not be around, that he’s got to deal with personally,” Roberts said following Wednesday’s 4-3 win over the visiting Minnesota Twins in which Betts started a ninth-inning rally with a two-out infield single. “Everything is OK with him, but yeah, we’ll see.”
Betts spent the first six seasons of his career in Boston and was the American League MVP in 2018, when he led the Red Sox to a World Series victory over the Dodgers. Betts was traded to the Dodgers in 2020 for Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs and Connor Wong. He’s been an All-Star and earned MVP votes in four of his first five years with Los Angeles.
The 32-year-old has struggled this season with career lows across the board offensively, hitting .238 with a .309 on-base percentage, a .370 slugging percentage, 11 homers and 45 RBIs in 94 games this year.
The eight-time All-Star and former American League MVP owns a career batting line of .290/.369/.514 with 282 homers and 876 RBIs in 1,475 games for the Boston Red Sox (2014-2019) and Dodgers (2020-25). He won a World Series title with Boston in 2018 and two with the Dodgers, in 2020 and 2024.