BOSTON — Mookie Betts understandably was sore Saturday morning.
Betts ran full-speed into the outfield wall Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park, resulting in a lower back sprain that forced him out of the game and out of Saturday’s starting lineup. The injury isn’t expected to sideline the 22-year-old for an extended period, though, which is good news for the Boston Red Sox, who have been unable to gain ground in the American League East.
“I think we’ll get a better read after a couple of days,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said before Saturday’s game of Betts’ injury. “But at this point, we don’t anticipate a (disabled list stint).”
Betts could miss just a couple of games. It’s a minor miracle given how hard Betts ran into the wall. The second-year outfielder incredibly returned to his feet following the violent collision and even appeared to smile. He initially stayed in Friday’s game but tightened up a short time later, prompting his departure, according to Farrell.
“When you go out there and you see the impact and the redness around his face where he face planted into the wall, basically, that was an ugly collision, the way he twisted around,” Farrell said. “To see how upbeat he was at the time, yeah, it was kind of remarkable that there wasn’t more going on.
“But as his next at-bat was approaching, because he hits with that leg kick, he can’t fire that, and that’s where the stiffness and the sprain in the low left side of the back was restricting him.”
Betts has struggled of late, but he snapped a 124-at-bat homerless drought in the first inning Friday prior to exiting the game before the start of the third inning.
Thumbnail photo via Gregory Fisher/USA TODAY Sports Images
