Eight-time All-Star outfielder Mookie Betts was absent from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Opening Day lineup for their Tokyo Series in Japan. Betts was reportedly se

Nashville native Mookie Betts, a star with the Dodgers, has left Japan where the team is scheduled to open the 2025 MLB season because of an illness.

Shortstop Mookie Betts has returned to Los Angeles to continue recovering from an illness that will cause him to miss the Dodgers’ first two games of the regular season at the Tokyo Dome.

But the Japanese players who were playing in front of their home country at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday handled any jitters they had quite well, delivering in clutch moments as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-1, in Major League Baseball’s season opener.

Yamamoto (1-0) gave up one run on three hits and a walk, striking out four. Tanner Scott earned his first save.

If MLB can get Japan to follow all its teams, “We do believe there are payoffs in the B’s: billions,” commissioner Rob Manfred said.

Originally, Freeman was slated to play first and hit third in the Dodgers' Opening Day game against the Cubs in Tokyo.