MLB Rumors: Betts' Absence Could Be Longer Than Expected

With a broken rib, team catalyst and superstar Mookie Betts will be out of the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup for a while. But how long of a while? 

After a CT scan showed the broken rib, manager Dave Roberts insisted that Betts will only be out about two weeks. But noted sports injury expert Jeff Stotts warns that his absence could actually be much longer. 

My latest Fantasy Baseball Injury Report for @RotoWire: Betts Could Miss Extended Time https://t.co/9qXefHP60A

— Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) June 21, 2022

Stotts says to expect Betts to miss "extended time", as a recent analysis of cracked rib injuries in major league players "discovered the average time lost was 45 days." Yikes. 

Here's the list of rib fractures that I have in my database.

The numbers seem to speak for themselves, unfortunately it looks like it will be a while before we see Mookie on the field again. pic.twitter.com/SsGaST2AJb

— Derek Rhoads (@drhoa3) June 19, 2022

Of 13 recent rib fractures in the database of Derek Rhoads of Baseball Prospectus, the range of missed time ranged from 10 days to 58 days, with an average of 45 days, and a median of 37 days lost. 

As Stotts notes, we'll know a lot more after the Dodgers reevaluate the status of his ribs in about ten days, but bottom line, he says the two-week benchmark is a bit hopeful. 

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