Mookie Betts makes baseball look easy. The three-time World Series Champion and 2018 American League MVP is preparing for another trip to the World Series if his LA Dodgers team can defeat the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series that begins Monday night, with first pitch scheduled for 8:08 p.m.
Even if you’re not a baseball fan you have to love Mookie Betts. He’s 5-foot-10, 180 pounds of all-world dog. Betts didn’t have his usually dominant season. In fact, he had a career-low .258 batting average and .406 slugging percentage and failed to get voted to the All-Star team for just the second time in the past nine seasons. But there’s a reason why Betts started off so slow. And it actually has gained him more respect and reverence around the league. Even more than when he transformed himself from a gold glove outfielder to a shortstop who led the league in Defensive Runs Saved this season. If you don’t know what DRS is, that just means he was nice with the glove.
Mookie Betts Suffered Debilitating Mysterious Stomach Illness Entering 2025 Season
Shortly before the 2025 season jumped off, Betts was sidelined by a severe and undiagnosed stomach illness — likely a severe case of Norovirus — that caused him to lose over 30 pounds. Betts, who was traded to LA by the Boston Red Sox in a 2019 blockbuster trade that still baffles the mind, also experienced severe vomiting, and could not keep solid food down for about two weeks. His symptoms ramped up just before the team’s trip to Japan, worsened on the trip, and required IV fluids.
“I got on the plane. I thought I would give myself a couple of days [to get better]. The plane ride was brutal. That’s one of the worst plane rides I ever had,” Betts said to a group of reporters, including MLBbro.com. “I got there and I had one workout in. That was a really bad trip. … I came back and had another bad plane ride.”
The illness led to him being sent home from the Japan series and missing the start of the season. Betts is a gamer and despite the effects of the illness, he said he would be available to start the season if needed.
Mookie Betts Misses First Two Games Of 2025 Season In Japan With Mysterious Stomach Illness
Valuing Betts as they do, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sat Betts the first two games of the 2025 season while he recovered.
“But [stomach ailment] is so touchy. You think you feel good. I don’t know what’s going on with my stomach,” Betts told reporters at the time. “I feel good. Everytime I eat something, it comes right out. I have to figure out a way … and go at 150 pounds.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers opened their regular season with the Tokyo Series against the Chicago Cubs on March 18 and 19. He returned for the Dodgers’ home opener on March 27 after doctors gave him medication allowing him to ingest solid foods again.
Baseball Star Struggles Early Due To Norovirus That Caused Severe Weight Loss
The illness significantly impacted his early-season performance, but Betts never made excuses.
“You go through all the phases,” Betts said. “You go through anger, then you’re sad. I don’t even know what all the phases are, but at the end is acceptance. And once you get through the acceptance phase, it’s like nothing can really hurt me anymore.’
The Dodgers were winning, but the team was still trying to get over the hangover from last season’s World Series win. Through his first 15 games of action, the 32-year-old posted a .304/.400/.554 slash line with four home runs.
But he was playing at 157 pounds and he struggled to a .637 OPS over his next 91 games. Betts admitted that his struggle to get back to where he was physically, mechanically and mentally was new to him and challenged him like nothing before.
“All these are firsts,” Betts said. “I’ve never felt like this. I’ve never been in this mental headspace.”
Struggling Mookie Betts Offers To Sit Bench Until Fully Recovered
Betts even offered to sit the bench, suggesting that Roberts insert other players who won’t hurt the team. Roberts of course scoffed at the idea, instead offering the grace and understanding that Betts deserves. Even if the fans and media did not.
“You go through all the phases,” Betts said. “You go through anger, then you’re sad. I don’t even know what all the phases are, but at the end is acceptance. And once you get through the acceptance phase, it’s like nothing can really hurt me anymore.”
Mookie Betts Rebounds From Virus With Explosive Second Half
He finished with more homers (20) and RBI (82) and games played (150) then last year. The Dodgers beat up on Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS (3-1) and the road to a back-to-back WS is clear.
Betts never let on to how bad a physical condition he was in, but he still went out there and competed and dealt with the rumors and questions about his decline. Fans tend to forget athletes are humans whether they make $27M a year like Betts or $27K.
Betts was dealing with a debilitating virus that could have killed him if he didn’t get it under control. Doctors were initially befuddled as to what was wrong with him and once he took the field, very few people cared.
When Betts takes the field, he will have already won. He battled back from the darkest uncertainty he’s ever faced in baseball and reassumes his position among the best to ever do it. He deserves to be watched just for that reason. A guy any sports fan can love and respect.
