Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts informed reporters (together with Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic) in the present day that catcher Will Smith had undergone further scans following his placement on the injured checklist final week, and that testing revealed a hairline fracture in Smith’s injured hand. The information makes it “uncertain,” in Roberts’s phrases, that he’ll play once more in the course of the common season this yr. Extra regarding is that whether or not or not Smith will probably be obtainable for the beginning of the playoffs stays “up within the air.”
Smith, who made his third All-Star recreation earlier this yr, loved a profession season with the Dodgers this yr as he hit .296/404/.497 with a 152 wRC+ in 110 video games. He swatted 17 homers and paired an honest 20.4% strikeout price with an elite 14.7% stroll price to emerge as one of many league’s high on-base threats, and between his spectacular offense and strong protection behind the plate put collectively 4.1 fWAR in simply 436 journeys to the plate.
Arguably the perfect right-handed hitter within the Dodgers’ lineup this yr because of Mookie Betts’s robust first half this yr, dropping Smith for any a part of the postseason could be a crushing blow for the Dodgers. Since his first full 162-game season in 2021, Smith has averaged 126 video games performed a yr and is a fixture of the L.A. lineup with extra innings caught over the previous 5 years than anybody aside from J.T. Realmuto. Smith’s mixture of sturdiness and excellence allowed the Dodgers to not fear a lot concerning the high quality of their catching depth this yr, a lot in order that they even designated longtime backup Austin Barnes for project again in Could to make room on the roster for unproven teen Dalton Dashing.
Dashing has not taken to the large leagues in his part-time position, and has slashed simply .184/.246/.288 with a wRC+ of 49 and a 39.1% strikeout price throughout 47 video games within the majors. Dashing’s mixture of lackluster offense and unimpressive protection behind the plate have seemingly left the Dodgers with out a lot confidence in his skill to deal with the leap from little-used backup to potential playoff starter, and on account of that Roberts indicated in the present day that Ben Rortvedt as an alternative be tasked with serving because the Dodgers’ major catcher whereas Smith is out of fee.
Simply 5 days shy from his twenty eighth birthday, Rortvedt turned in a decent sufficient season with the Rays final yr however this yr has hit simply .165/.250/.196 in 39 video games between L.A. and Tampa. It’s a efficiency that provides just about no motive for optimism about his skill to contribute offensively, however Rortvedt is a really well-regarded recreation caller who will get strong marks from superior metrics for his glove behind the plate. That strong protection ought to assist create the next flooring than Dashing might present for a Dodgers staff that might want to depend on a bullpen that has appeared shaky in latest weeks to protect any leads handed to them by an elite beginning rotation. With that stated, it might in fact be preferable if Smith’s bat might take some stress off Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman to hold the offense headed into the playoffs.
