(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.)

As Opening Day of the 2025 MLB season approaches, one unexpected storyline has emerged from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ camp: the concerning health situation of outfielder Mookie Betts. Over the past couple of weeks, Betts has been grappling with an unusual and worrying illness.

In a recent episode of the Baseball Bar-B-Cast, hosted by Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman, the discussion touched on Betts’ troubling health issue. It came to light that Betts had been unable to keep down solid food for approximately two weeks, leading to a concerning weight loss from 175 pounds to 150. This alarming situation has posed significant questions about Betts’ readiness as the season opener looms.

“I’m kind of skeptical we’re going to see him on Thursday,” Shusterman said. “Hey, Mookie, you haven’t eaten anything for three weeks. Here, go face Tarik Skubal.”

The Dodgers host the Tigers in a three-game series beginning Thursday. While it serves as Opening Day for most of MLB, the Dodgers actually opened their season last week with a two-game series against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo. Betts did not play in either.

Betts has mentioned feeling fine in other respects, yet the inability to digest food is highly likely to impair his performance. “It’s hard to do your job when you don’t eat food,” he admitted, highlighting the severity of the situation. Despite this, Betts expressed a determination to keep going, stating his intention to “play uphill” despite the ongoing issue. Sure, it’s a testament to his resilience, but at what cost?

What perplexes Betts is the absence of a clear diagnosis, despite access to top-tier medical expertise. The uncertainty surrounding his condition only adds to the anxiety, as the Dodgers brace themselves for their home opener.

To hear more MLB discussions, tune into “Baseball-Bar-B-Cast” on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.)

As Opening Day of the 2025 MLB season approaches, one unexpected storyline has emerged from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ camp: the concerning health situation of outfielder Mookie Betts. Over the past couple of weeks, Betts has been grappling with an unusual and worrying illness.

In a recent episode of the Baseball Bar-B-Cast, hosted by Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman, the discussion touched on Betts’ troubling health issue. It came to light that Betts had been unable to keep down solid food for approximately two weeks, leading to a concerning weight loss from 175 pounds to 150. This alarming situation has posed significant questions about Betts’ readiness as the season opener looms.

“I’m kind of skeptical we’re going to see him on Thursday,” Shusterman said. “Hey, Mookie, you haven’t eaten anything for three weeks. Here, go face Tarik Skubal.”

The Dodgers host the Tigers in a three-game series beginning Thursday. While it serves as Opening Day for most of MLB, the Dodgers actually opened their season last week with a two-game series against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo. Betts did not play in either.

Betts has mentioned feeling fine in other respects, yet the inability to digest food is highly likely to impair his performance. “It’s hard to do your job when you don’t eat food,” he admitted, highlighting the severity of the situation. Despite this, Betts expressed a determination to keep going, stating his intention to “play uphill” despite the ongoing issue. Sure, it’s a testament to his resilience, but at what cost?

What perplexes Betts is the absence of a clear diagnosis, despite access to top-tier medical expertise. The uncertainty surrounding his condition only adds to the anxiety, as the Dodgers brace themselves for their home opener.

To hear more MLB discussions, tune into “Baseball-Bar-B-Cast” on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

On this episode of Good Word with Goodwill, Vince and James Edwards discuss whether LeBron or Nikola Jokic’s injury is the greater concern moving forward and which team has a better chance to succeed in the postseason if their stars are hobbled.

Next, Vince and Dan take a look at the New York Knicks roster construction and if last season’s success led the team to make pivotal mistakes with the current roster.

Later, can Jimmy Butler be special in the postseason for the Warriors? And Cade Cunningham’s opportunity to be the next NBA superstar.

(02:15) Bigger injury concern: LeBron or Jokic

(12:32) Are the Nuggets overrated?

(16:40) Rockets look like a dangerous team

(21:51) Are the Knicks worn down?

(24:40) Is the Knicks roster poorly constructed?

(36:36) Can Playoff Jimmy emerge for the Warriors?

(48:57) Cade Cunningham next NBA superstar?

(58:12) NBA is better when the Pistons are good

Subscribe to Good Word with Goodwill

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2025 MLB season]

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts

For the first time since Juan Soto traded in his Yankees pinstripes for Mets’ blue and orange, the two crosstown rivals went head-to-head on Monday, and while it was only a spring training game, it was also a shot for both sides to take a couple of light-hearted jabs at one another.

“I told him he looks terrible in that uniform,” Aaron Boone said with a laugh prior to the game. “It’s good to see him. Obviously, Juan was great for us, but just as important, he was a great guy in our room, a great guy in our clubhouse. Honestly, it was actually really good to see him and just catch up for a minute.

“But yeah, I thought he looked terrible in those colors.”

While Boone was clearly joking (at least for the most part), there’s surely some frustration from the Yankees side that Soto, who helped lead the Yankees to the American League pennant last season, moved across town to the Mets on the largest contract in professional sports history.

“You know, it’s just Booney,” Soto, with a smile, said after the game of his former manager’s ribbing. “You know he probably don’t like the orange and blue. But, it is what it is.”

“For me, it’s a different feeling facing those guys out there who we went through last year. It was really fun experience, because, you already know their mindset and how they are. And facing [Marcus] Stroman, a guy who I was in touch with last year and we have good conversations in the past, so it was pretty cool.”

Soto went 0-for-2 at the plate as the Mets and Yankees ended up playing to a 6-6 tie. And while the game was in Port St. Lucie, there were plenty of Yankees fans on hand, and Soto heard a mixed reaction from the crowd when he came up to bat for the first time.

The reception for Juan Soto with Mets and Yankees fans at Clover Park pic.twitter.com/1PvTB1We0H

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 24, 2025

“I think it was a lot of cheers out there, so I take all that and I was happy for my fans,” Soto said.

While there were more than 8,000 fans on hand at Clover Park on Monday, Soto knows the reception will be a bit different the first time he goes back to the Bronx, which will be a weekend series in mid-May.

“You know, Yankees fans, they can surprise you with anything, so I’m expecting the worst,” he said with a laugh.

Juan Sotospent the first four and a half seasons of his big league career in the National League East. During that stretch with the Nationals, he won a World Series title in his first full big league season, but had just two winning years and never captured a division title.

Back in the division and facing the prospect of a healthy Atlanta Braves side, a retooled Philadelphia Phillies unit, and a young and developing core in Washington, the superstar has high expectations for his first year with the Mets.

“You always gotta be expecting to be on the top,” Soto said Monday afternoon. “It doesn’t matter who is in the division, we expecting to be at the top all the time.”

The Mets finished six games behind the Phillies and lost out on second place in the division on a tiebreaker with the Braves last year. With Soto aboard in the first year of a 15-year deal, the Mets’ are primed to make a push to capture the NL East for the first time since 2015, but the PECOTA projected standings still have New York 2.2 games behind Atlanta for first place.

But after his first spring training, which ended Monday when his new club and old club played to a 6-6 tie, Soto sees a deep squad.

“I think we’re in a good spot,” Soto said. “I think we have a really talented group… we are really a loaded as a team. Can’t wait to see these guys that are going out there.

“Definitely we had to go through some adversities in spring training, deal with some injuries and stuff like that, but I think we’re gonna be fine.”

Earlier in the spring, Soto said he was looking to improve his defense, an area he struggled with in the past, especially at times last year with the Yankees. The slugger said that after working with Antoan Richardson the two “did a really good job” in improving in right field.

“We worked on a lot of things,” Soto said, “we work in our mechanics go to the balls and everything, definitely feel more faster in the outfield like taking better jumps to the balls and getting to the balls quicker.

“So I’m really happy with what we did through spring training. In that way, I feel like we did a really good job, so now we just gotta go out there and perform.”

A.J. Minter ready for regular season workload

The veteran left-hander was “happy” with how he responded after throwing on just one day of rest in the Mets’ final outing of the spring.

“Continued to throw strikes today and, I think, we’ve finally checked that last box,” Minter said after a two-strikeout inning in which he threw 16 strikes out of 20 pitches, but did allow a solo home run. “Hopefully, show up these next few days if, obviously something sore comes up. I think we checked all the boxes we need to check.”

A hip injury that required surgery limited Minter to just 39 games and 34.1 innings a year ago, but he believes that he’s ready for a regular season workload.

Of course, the lefty said that he needs more repetitions “more than anything.”

“I need to just keep throwing,” he said. “Like every outing I go out there, I feel like I get more and more confident. So, I’m really happy.”

The 31-year-old who spent the first eight years of his big league career in Atlanta said the goal of the entire offseason was to be ready for Opening Day.

“I think it was gonna come down to, literally, today, the last day to make that decision, because you never want to go into the season just not feeling confident, but also just not to rush back an injury,” he said, before adding that he “kind of shocked” himself with his progress even knowing how hard he worked during the offseason to make sure he was ready for the start of the season.

Minter is still ramping up the velocity – his average velocity on the fastball and cutter was down a touch in Monday’s outing – but they will tick up as the season starts and he threw those pitches in addition to his changeup the way he wanted to this spring.

“Definitely got some good usage,” he said.

Anthony Davis is back. 

The Dallas Mavericks center acquired in the Luka Dončić trade will make his return to the lineup Monday night against the Brooklyn Nets. Head coach Jason Kidd told reporters Monday afternoon that Davis will play and be restricted to 28 minutes. 

Davis has played a total of 31 minutes for the Mavericks since arriving in the Feb. 1 trade that shocked the NBA. Davis was dealing with injury when the trade was commenced and made his Mavericks debut a week later against the Houston Rockets on Feb. 8. 

He thrived in his debut with 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks. But he was sidelined with an adductor strain late in the game and hasn’t played since. Davis has missed 18 games since being injured. 

The Mavericks have gone 6-12 in those games, but remain in the hunt in the West’s play-in race. The Mavericks enter Monday’s action at 34-37 and are tied in the win-loss column with the Phoenix Suns. The 10th-place Suns currently have the tiebreaker over the Mavericks and would secure the final spot in the play-in over the Mavericks if the season ended prior to Monday’s games.

Davis’ return offers a significant boost to the Mavericks’ hopes. The centerpiece of the return for Dallas in the Dončić deal, Davis is averaging 25.7 points, 12 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.2 blocks in 43 games this season, 42 of which were played with the Los Angeles Lakers. 

A 10-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA selection, Davis is producing All-NBA level numbers on a per-game basis. If healthy, he’ll make a Mavericks lineup riddled with injury considerably better. It won’t sooth the lingering anger in Dallas over trading Dončić to the rival Lakers. But Davis’ return gives Dallas hope of competing to make the postseason.

It’s almost time to play ball! The 2025 Major League Baseball season kicks off later this month. The season technically began with the MLB in Tokyo series on Tuesday, Mar. 18. But Opening Day won’t be until Mar. 27, where nearly every MLB team will play (the Rockies-Rays matchup has been pushed back a day). Are you ready to tune in? In case you’ve forgotten the slightly chaotic way that MLB games are distributed across channels, here’s a refresher on the best ways to watch MLB in 2025.

When does the 2025 MLB season start?

The 2025 MLB season begins with the MLB Tokyo series on Tuesday, Mar. 18, where the Dodgers and Cubs will face off in a two-game series at Japan’s Tokyo Dome. The official Opening Day will take place a little over a week later, on Thursday, Mar. 27.

What channel is baseball on in 2025?

MLB games air across ESPN, FOX, Apple TV+ (for exclusive streaming games), the Roku Channel (taking over MLB’s “Sunday Leadoff”) and a wide range of RSNs. So to be honest, it’s not very straightforward to keep up with your favorite MLB team. But it can help to be prepared! Here’s what we recommend to help you watch baseball in 2025.

How to watch MLB games without cable:

Where to stream MLB games:

Subscribe to Baseball Bar-B-Cast

Follow Jake @Jake_Mintz

Follow Jordan @J_Shusterman_

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts