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Mookie Betts Speaks Out on Illness After Heroic Performance

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Sean Treppedi | Last updated Mar 29, 2025 12:49 PM ET

Mookie Betts missed the Los Angeles Dodgers first two games in Tokyo last week because he was fighting an ongoing stomach illness.

The former MVP said he lost 15 pounds.

Betts' availability for the home opener against the Detroit Tigers was unknown throughout the week, but he not only returned to the lineup in time, he cranked two home runs in the Dodgers' 8-5 win on Friday—including a walk off in the 10th inning.

“Right now, I’m just having fun hitting 160-pound homers,” Betts said.

Now, Betts plans to gain back the weight he lost while he continues to pick off where he left off on the field in the Dodgers' 2024 World Series run.

“I’m at 165 now, so another seven or eight pounds will help me a lot, but 10 would be ideal,” he said. “Keep eating. Just eating all day,” he said. “My chef and wife, both of them are doing enough cooking. I’m eating during the game.”

The 32-year-old admitted he went through an emotional period during the illness because it seemed endless.

“Just the fight that I’ve kind of been through, the ups and downs, the nights where I’m just crying because I’m sick,” he said. “My wife there and just kind of holding me. That’s really where that emotion kind of comes from.”

MOOKIE BETTS WALK-OFF HOMER! UNBELIEVABLE! pic.twitter.com/PpYP5FpVcd
— MLB (@MLB) March 29, 2025

In the 10th, Will Smith and Shohei Ohtani both knocked back-to-back singles to set up Betts' heroic moment.

“The pressure was kind of off,” Betts said. “We were going to get another at-bat with Freddie (Freeman) there and we all know what Freddie does in those type of situations. It was just kind of relax, if you do, cool, if you don’t that’s OK.”

Betts went 3 for 5 with three runs and four RBIs on the evening.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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