The Los Angeles Dodgers may be closing in on another National League West title, but they continue to navigate injuries that are threatening their chances of repeating as World Series champs.
The latest was again to catcher Will Smith, who was a late scratch from the Dodgers lineup before their 9-0 win that capped a series sweep over the last-place Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night.
The win, LA’s fourth straight, buoyed its lead over the second-place San Diego Padres to three games with just 16 games to play. The NL West rivals do not play a head-to-head series the rest of the year.
The Dodgers have won the National League West three years in a row and are seeking their 12th division title in the past 13 seasons.
Why Did Will Smith Get Scratched?
At .296, Smith is the Dodgers’ leading hitter by batting average, and he ranks second on the team in OPS (.901) and is fifth on the team in runs scored (64). But he has been battling an injury to his throwing hand that has now knocked him out four of LA’s past five games.
“We thought that he was going able to play tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “With the setback, we’ve got to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Roberts further explained what happened that caused Smith to be scratched.
“Literally 15 minutes before the game as he was getting ready, his hand started to swell up and started to compromise a little bit, as he was getting loose,” Roberts said. “We decided to have him down today, potentially available to hit if he needed to.
“It was just kind of the hitting, getting ready, then after the hitting, just getting dressed and getting ready for the game, that’s when [the swelling] really started to show itself. Then he tried to get out there to throw, and it didn’t respond well.”
Journeyman backup catcher Ben Rortvedt started in Smith’s absence and went 2 for 4 with a run scored on Mookie Betts’ eighth-inning grand slam that broke the game open late.
“He just really stepped up,” Roberts said of Rortvedt. “Ben did a fantastic job as he has every opportunity he’s gotten.”
Is Will Smith Going On the Injured List?
Roberts said Smith would undergo imaging on his hand as part of treatment Thursday. But when asked about potentially calling up another catcher, but he shut down that idea.
“Even where he’s at, he could catch in an emergency,” Roberts said. “At this point and time, no [other catchers will be called up].”
The Dodgers were off Thursday before heading to the Bay Area for a huge three-game series against the suddenly surging San Francisco Giants. Roberts said he was hopeful Smith could play in those games at Oracle Park before heading back for LA’s final homestand of the regular season.
“We’ll kind of manage him on the off day with treatment and then make a decision Friday if he plays,” Roberts said. “[I’m] not overly concerned, but we gotta get that swelling under wraps.
“We’ve got to be confident he can catch two out of the three [games in San Francisco] if he plays Friday.”
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