Will Smith has not appeared in a game for the Dodgers since their 1-0 walk-off win over the Angels on Friday. He missed the final two games of the weekend series and was unavailable to play during the Dodgers 12-2 romp over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday.
Neck stiffness has been the culprit behind Smith’s absence, and it will keep him out of the lineup for a fourth consecutive game on Wednesday. Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times notes that a stint on the injured list is a possibility for Smith,
but the catcher will go through a full day of workouts before the team decides what the next move will be.
“It’s still a day-to-day situation,” Roberts said. “But for me, just talking to him, talking to the trainers, I would like him to go through a full day [of work] before he plays. So that would probably take [Wednesday] off the table. And then we’ll kind of go from there.”
In his absence, Dalton Rushing has performed well as the go-to option behind home plate. In the three games without Smith, Rushing is batting .455 (5-11) with a home run and three RBI, including a four-hit performance on Sunday. The goal for Rushing was to always be available at any moment’s notice, and he certainly has lived up to those expectations this year.
“This year my whole goal was to make sure, if there’s an opportunity [when] Will needs rest … make sure that I can provide just as much as he does with the bat as well as behind the plate,” Rushing said Saturday. “That’s something I’m obviously continuing to work toward. Whatever he needs, I’ll be here. He knows I’ll catch seven days a week. He knows I’ll catch every game if he can’t go back there.”
Since being moved down to cleanup in the lineup on May 26, Mookie Betts has had his moments, such as a two-home run game on that day, but has overall continued to mire in a season-long slump.
Betts had a pair of hits against Pittsburgh out of the cleanup spot, but with hitters such as Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy heating up recently, the question Dodgers fans have is whether or not the team should move him further down in the order, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com.
Freddie Freeman added another milestone to his Hall of Fame résumé with the 2,500th of his career, becoming the first player to do so since Robinson Canó in 2019. Freeman spoke about the accolade post-game with Kirsten Watson of SportsNet LA.
“It does mean a lot. There’s always another to get to, but to step back and realize how long you have to play… it does mean a lot… Doc said you gotta get 500 more, so we’ll hopefully start that tomorrow.”
