LOS ANGELES — Dodgers catcher Will Smith is back on the active roster for the Dodgers for the first time in 18 days, though he’s not starting Game 1 of the wild card series against the Cincinnati Reds.
Ben Rortvedt starts behind the plate on Tuesday night, his 16th start in the team’s last 22 games. Dalton Rushing is also active, giving the Dodgers three catchers active for the series. Having at most only three games in three days, the Dodgers opted for only 11 pitchers active against the Reds, including
a few starting pitchers in the pared-down bullpen.
That means 15 position players are active against the Reds, including Hyeseong Kim and Justin Dean, who offer speed on the bases and potential late-inning replacements on defense. The Dodgers felt they needed the coverage with both Max Muncy and Tommy Edman nursing injuries in the last week. Both Muncy and Edman are starting on Tuesday, though Edman might be limited to second base for this series until his right ankle strengthens.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said there was essentially a roster choice between having outfielder Michael Conforto — who struggled offensively and defensively but still started 106 of the team’s 115 games against right-handed starting pitchers this season, including 25 of the final 27 such games down the stretch — and Smith.
The question now is whether Smith might start during this series, after dealing with a hairline fracture in his right hand and playing just once in the last four weeks.
“It’s a day-to-day thing. I’m not closing the door, that he’s not going to start tomorrow,” Roberts said. “I do feel the floor of having him available to hit in any big spot, was certainly worth having him on the roster.”
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Smith — who hit .296/.404/.497 with a 153 wRC+ this season — being available to at least pinch-hit was enough to activate him for the wild card series. But progress would be needed for him to be able to catch.
“Last week he had a hard time gripping things. That progressively got better and got to a place where the bone had to heal. Now it’s about getting strength back, and once you do that then it’s about throwing,” Friedman said. “We were able to keep his legs going, but he hasn’t had that throwing volume for a little while. Now we have to keep continuing to aggressively layer that on. But as far as him in the batter’s box, if there’s a big spot, we all feel really good about betting on Will.”
