UTK Flash - Mookie Betts
Betts HBP, Fx Worry
Staying up late to watch the Dodgers got me this view:
Yeah, it looked as bad the second time and for Betts, clearly in pain with a hard hit to the medial aspect of his forearm (the pinkie side, not the thumb side), the big worry is fracture. The ball certainly hit in the area most exposed - there’s no external padding and the muscle exposes the bone right where Betts got hit.
The team would know immediately if Betts had a fracture, both from physical examination and the X-ray in T-Mobile Park. The Mariners would have a doctor on hand as well, plus the Dodgers medical staff. (Doctors seldom travel with the team.)
Dave Roberts gave an update after the game that pointedly ignored the X-ray results or even that it had happened. His focus on the soft tissue could be read as positive and a reason for delaying until images can be taken tomorrow.
The pitch did not look intentional from Rafael Montero, but at 95 mph, intention doesn’t really matter. It should be noted that Ty France was hit earlier in the game, so the question of “payback” is a fair one, though again, that 98 mph pitch did not look intentional either.
The hope is that Betts merely has pain, inflammation, and bruising from the contact, but no damage to the bone. There’s very little other structures there that could be damaged, but the swelling is likely to be severe and pain won’t be telling, but again, the Dodgers already know if the arm is broken. (Ok, small chance the arm swelled up so fast that the x-ray came back inconclusive, but in most of those cases, there’s a fracture.)
I’ll have updates as necessary, but the impact of this injury could be big for the Dodgers and for baseball.