By Kaley Brown
July 25, 2025 | 6:02 PM
Former Red Sox and current Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts is not at Fenway Park for the clubs’ series-opening game Friday due to personal reasons.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters on Thursday that he anticipated Betts, 32, would not be with the team for the first game of the weekend series in Boston.
“There might be some things going on that he might not want to be around, that he’s got to deal with personally,” Roberts said (via MLB.com’s Sonja Chen). “Everything is OK with him, but yeah, we’ll see.”
Pregame Friday, Roberts explained that Betts is at his home in Nashville. Roberts said he expects Betts to rejoin Los Angeles around game time on Saturday, but isn’t sure if he’ll be in the lineup for the second game of the three-game set.
Betts, who was drafted by the Red Sox in 2011 and was the face of Boston’s franchise between 2015-19 before being traded to the Dodgers in 2020, isn’t posting his typical dominant stats this season. Through 94 games, he’s batting .238 with a .679 OPS, 14 doubles, and 11 home runs.
In 2024, Betts primarily played second base after mainly playing in the outfield his entire career. This season, he has solely fielded the shortstop position for Los Angeles.
Exactly 11 months ago on Friday, Betts returned to Fenway Park for the first time since 2019. Donning a Dodgers uniform, he received a lengthy standing ovation from the Red Sox faithful before his first at-bat.
It remains to be seen when Boston fans can welcome Betts back to Fenway this weekend. Saturday’s first pitch is set for 7:15 p.m. Eastern Time (broadcast on FOX), and Sunday’s series finale is slated for 1:35 p.m. E.T.
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