The Dodgers will select catcher Leg rortvedt In their schedule, reports Fabian Ardaya of the athletics. That is to give the club another catcher in the coming days, because it is unlikely Will Smith Will play this weekend. Ardaya previously noted That Dalton Hurry Will start tonight, so Rortvedt will probably support him while Smith Rests. Similar movements are required to add Rortvedt to the active and 40-man grilles.
The issue stems from last night, when Smith was hit by a fault ball on his throwing hand, as seen in This video from MLB.com. Per Jack Harris van de Los Angeles TimesSmith today receives a CT scan that will determine whether it should be on the injured list. Even if he avoids the il, he will miss a few days. The Dodgers of course do not want to play with hurrying as their only catcher, so they add Rortvedt to give them a little cover.
Losing Smith for some time is a blow. He has a .296/.405/.497 battle line and 153 WRC+ this year. His glove work is not considered particularly well, but this year he was credited by Fangraphs with 4.1 victories over replacement. Of course the Dodgers will hope that he can be back after a few days. During this time of the year, everything that runs for longer than a daily issue runs the risk of penetrating through the end of the regular season.
Hurving will try to come up with part of the play. He has only beaten .190/.256/.293 in his first 129 main class record performances, but in sporadic playing time while he is Smith Back -up back -up of Smith. He has much better Minor League numbers and it is possible that he can get into a better groove with more repetitions. But if Smith is back in a few days, it can be a dispute.
Rortvedt, 27, seemed to settle last year as a legitimate main class -catcher with the rays. He came in 112 games and cut .228/.317/.303 in 328 record performances. His 87 WRC+ indicates that he was 13% below the average batter of the competition, but backstops are usually about 10% below par, so that is decent enough for a backup. Given his solid defensive figures, he was credited last year with 1.4 Fwar.
Unfortunately he did not wear that in 2025. Until the end of May he had a .095/.186/.111 sloping line. He was designated for assignment and not a club claimed him from exemptions. A few months later, the Dodgers picked him up as part of a trade with three teams with the rays and red. The Dodgers deducted some depth in that deal by sending Hunter Feduccia to Tampa, but got the prospect back Adam Serwinowski and Reliever Paul Gervase.
Rortvedt has effectively replaced Feduccia as the Catcher of Dodgers. He has also not had a good season in the minors, with a combined .205/.299/.333 line and 66 WRC+ between the Triple-A clubs of the Rays and Dodgers, but he is a competent defender who has been in the big competitions for a few years. If the Dodgers want to get him out of the schedule later, he no longer has any options.
Photo thanks to Mark J. Rebilas, imagn images
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