Dodgers -Manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of the athletics) Today that catcher Will Smith Had extra scans undergone last week after his placement on the wounded list, and that testing revealed a hairline fracture in Smith’s wounded hand. The news makes it “Doubtful,” In the words of Roberts, that he will play again this year during the regular season. More worrying is that whether Smith will be available before the start of the play -offs remains “Up in the air.”
Smith, who made his third All-Star competition earlier this year, enjoyed a career season with the Dodgers this year when he hit .296/404/.497 with a 152 WRC+ in 110 games. He hit 17 homers and combined a decent 20.4% strikeout percentage with an elite of 14.7% hiking percentage to appear as one of the best on-base threats of the competition, and between his impressive attack and solid defense behind the record, 4.1 Fwar put together in just 436 trips on the record.
Undoubtedly the best right-handed batter in the Dodgers line-up this year thanks to Mookie BettsThe difficult first half of this year, losing Smith for every part of the late season would be a crushing blow to the Dodgers. Since his first full 162-game season in 2021, Smith has played an average of 126 games and is a fixture of the LA-Line-up with more innings caught in the last five years than someone else than someone else JT RealMuto. Smith’s combination of sustainability and excellence enabled the Dodgers not to make much of the quality of their catchest depth this year, so much that they have even designated long -term backup Austin Barnes For the assignment in May to make room on the schedule for unproven younger ones Dalton Hurry.
Rushing has not received the major competitions in its part-time role and has only reduced .184/.246/.288 with a WRC+ of 49 and a strikeout percentage of 39.1% over 47 races in the Majors. The combination of rushing of matte attack and non-impressing defense behind the plate has apparently left the Dodgers without much confidence in his ability to tackle the jump from little used backup to potential playoff starter, and as a result Roberts indicated that today that Leg rortvedt Instead, I must serve as the primary catcher of the Dodgers, while Smith is out of use.
Only five days shy his 28th birthday, Rortvedt yielded a respectable enough season with the Rays last year, but this year this year only .165/.250/.196 affected 39 games between LA and Tampa. It is a performance that offers virtually no reason for optimism about his ability to contribute offensively, but Rortvedt is a very well -claimed game eagle who gets solid figures from advanced statistics for his glove behind the plate. That solid defense should help create a higher floor than hurrying can ensure a Dodgers team that must rely on a bull pen that has seen shaky in recent weeks to retain any leads passed on to them by an elite start rotation. That said, it would of course be preferred if Smith’s bat could take some pressure Shohei Ohtani And Freddie Freeman To bear the attack in the play -offs.
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