Mookie Betts is on the Injured List for the Los Angeles Dodgers with an oblique strain, the kind of injury that can nag a player for weeks.
But here’s where it gets interesting. Some analysts are wondering if Betts’ bowling performance this winter might’ve been an early indicator that something was off physically.
Baseball analyst Rob Silver posted this theory on X Sunday, suggesting those who tracked Betts’ bowling scores saw warning signs:
Anyone who followed Mookie’s bowling scores over the winter knew he wasn’t quite physically right. If you didn’t put in that work, I’m not sure what to tell you.
It’s an intriguing connection, even if we couldn’t immediately find Betts’ specific scores from this offseason.
What we do know is that his bowling game has declined over recent years. According to PBA records, Betts hasn’t competed in a sanctioned tournament since 2023. When he did bowl that year, his average dropped to 185.83 – down six pins from 2022.
He also hasn’t won any cash prizes since 2017.
Now, this isn’t suggesting bowling caused the oblique injury. That’s not how injuries work.
But it raises an interesting question about whether declining performance in one athletic pursuit might signal broader physical issues. Bowling requires core strength, balance, and repetitive motion – all things that could be affected by the same underlying issues that might predispose someone to muscle strains.
For context, Betts isn’t just a casual bowler. He’s rolled a perfect 300 game and has competed at a professional level during offseasons. When a player of that caliber starts seeing significant drops in performance, it’s worth noting.
The correlation could be completely coincidental. Or it could be one of those subtle indicators that something’s not quite right physically – the kind of thing that only becomes obvious in hindsight.
Right now, the Dodgers are focused on getting their star outfielder healthy and back on the field. Whether his bowling struggles were a canary in the coal mine or just an offseason slump, we’ll probably never know for sure.
