The elbow injury that wiped out Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing’s final two months of the regular season and left him watching in October proved even costlier than previously expected. Rushing had surgery to repair the partially torn UCL in his right elbow.
Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times was first to report Rushing’s surgery:
To address a partial UCL tear, he was expected to undergo a hybrid internal brace procedure, which would set him up to return to catching full time in nine months. He would be
able to hit well before then.
Nine months from now is after the All-Star break, which would likely limit Rushing’s first-half contributions to being a left-handed pinch-hitter off the bench.
Rushing suffered a flexor strain and partially torn UCL in early August, and missed a month on the injured list. He returned on September 1 but played in only four games, batting five total times as either a pinch-hitter or designated hitter before landing back on the IL. Though Rushing was not expected to catch again this season, he took part in throwing drills on September 5 and re-injured the elbow, which knocked him out for three more weeks.
Rushing returned for the final weekend of the regular season, but having played so sparingly — only eight plate appearances over the Dodgers’ final 51 games — his lone chance to play in October was as a left-handed bat off the bench, a role that was claimed by 21-year-old Josue De Paula, the Dodgers’ best prospect who made his major league debut in September.
The elbow injuries marred an otherwise important season for Rushing, playing in his first full major league season. When Will Smith went down with a neck injury in the first week of June, Rushing got the first real extended time behind the plate of his professional career, and he started 34 of 47 games at catcher through August 1.
On the season, Rushing hit .246/.328/.460 with 12 home runs and a 117 wRC+ in 80 games, his slugging percentage sixth among the 41 major league catchers with at least 250 plate appearances.
Rushing’s injury also likely clears a path for Hunter Feduccia, who returned to the Dodgers at this year’s trade deadline, to remain as the backup catcher to start the 2027 season. Feduccia was active for both the Division Series and Championship Series but did not play in the postseason and Smith caught all 70 innings behind the plate in October.
