Bates with a broken toe wears closed-toe shoes for light training

Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts took a crucial step ahead of the series finale against the Yankees in the early hours of Monday morning (Sunday afternoon local time in New York): he successfully donned a closed-toe shoe for the first time since breaking the end of his left toe this week.

"It's a trivial thing on a daily basis, but it means a lot to Bates," he said when he walked to the bathroom late Wednesday night (Thursday afternoon, Beijing time) as he walked to the bathroom in the dark at his home and fractured his fourth toe of his left foot. Bates said in the early hours of Monday morning Beijing time: "It's the accident that happens when you wake up, everyone has experienced it." It's just that I happened to have a broken bone - I'm sure everyone has had a similar toe injury. "

Although Bates missed the entire Yankee series, he and head coach Dave Roberts are confident that he will not be on the injured list (IL) and could return in the coming days. Before the game in the early hours of Monday morning Beijing time, Bates showed up at the stadium for a light baseball practice and felt good after the game.

"Short-term recovery depends on pain tolerance," Roberts noted in the early hours of Sunday Beijing time (Saturday local time in New York), "and once the swelling subsides, the injury will be in a 'go with the flow' for a long time." The 4-day truce is not much different from the 14 days of entry into the IL. "

The injury comes at a time when the Dodgers have been hit by a wave of injuries — especially the damage to the pitching roster. The team announced on Friday (Saturday Beijing time) that backup pitcher Evan Phillips (Evan Phillips) will be reimbursed for the season next week for Tommy John's surgery. Bates' temporary withdrawal on Friday (Saturday CST) due to shoe pain was a concern, but his injury was more akin to an incident, similar to Freddie Freeman's slip and fall in the bathroom in early April (GMT) that aggravated an old right ankle injury (Freeman ended up on the 10-day injury list).

"Bad luck is like Murphy's Law," Roberts said on Friday, "but this time it's really bizarre." In the absence of Bates, who has a batting average of 0.254 and an attack index of 0.742 in 53 games this season, Miguel Rojas shares guerrilla defense with Hyeseong Kim.

Managing Director Brandon Gomes emphasised: "We will do a good job of pre-management to ensure that he is fully recovered when he returns. Squad depth is what keeps us going. "

With Monday morning testing his injured toe for the first time, Bates is not sure how serious the injury will be on the strikes or the defense. "I just want to make sure I can move the defense for my teammates," Bates said, "and the striking feel can be gradually restored, but the ability to defend has to be a priority." "