Mookie Betts' domestic opening day status uncertain after he misses exhibition with ongoing illness

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts is still dealing with an illness and his return remains uncertain.

Betts, who missed the Dodgers' first two games of the regular season at the Tokyo Dome last week and was sent back to Los Angeles to continue recovering, was a late scratch for Sunday's exhibition win against the Los Angeles Angels.

Betts told reporters he hasn't been able to keep down solid food without vomiting for two weeks and has lost about 15 pounds during that time.

“I mean, I feel great,” Betts told reporters in Los Angeles. “Like, my body feels great. I’ve been able to work out. I’ve been able to do pretty much everything but eat, which is strange. So the symptoms have kind of gone away, I just have to figure out how to get my stomach to kind of calm down.”

The perennial All-Star said so far all his blood work and other routine testing have been normal. Betts won't play in Monday's exhibition at Angel Stadium, and he's a long shot for the Dodgers' opening day game on American soil on Thursday against Detroit.

“It’s just hard to fathom not eating and going to play a game,” Betts said. “So it looks like I’m just going to be light for a little bit. Maybe I play uphill a little bit for the beginning of the season. But no, I just want to play, man. I’m tired of sitting, tired of throwing up, tired of doing all this. I really just want to play.”

Betts is making the full-time transition to shortstop after playing most of his career in right field and second base. The 2018 AL MVP hit .289 with 19 homers and 75 RBIs last season, helping the Dodgers win the World Series.

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Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts throws during batting practice before a spring training baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Sunday, March 23, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts practices before a spring training baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Sunday, March 23, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts walks in the dugout after getting scratched from the lineup during the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Sunday, March 23, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s motorcade took a different route than usual to the airport as he was departing Florida on Sunday due to a “suspicious object,” according to the White House.

The object, which the White House did not describe, was discovered during security sweeps in advance of Trump’s arrival at Palm Beach International Airport.

“A further investigation was warranted and the presidential motorcade route was adjusted accordingly,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Sunday.

The president, when asked about the package by reporters, said, “I know nothing about it.”

Trump left his Palm Beach, Florida, club, Mar-a-Lago, around 6:20 p.m. for the roughly 10-minute drive to the airport, but took a circular route around the city to get there.

During the drive, police officers on motorcycles created a moving blockade for the motorcade, at one point almost colliding with the vans that accompanied Trump.

Air Force One was parked on the opposite side of the airport from where it is usually located and the lights outside the plane were turned off.

Anthony Guglielmi, the spokesman for U.S. Secret Service, said the secondary route was taken just as a precaution and that “that is standard protocol.”

President Donald Trump departs Trump International Golf Club in the presidential limousine, known as The Beast, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)