The Dodgers are bracing for a longer wait on Will Smith.
Los Angeles has shut down its All-Star catcher from baseball activities after another setback in his recovery from the neck injury that first surfaced in early June. What was supposed to be a brief absence has stretched into a six-week ordeal, and now the team is taking a step back rather than pushing forward.
Manager Dave Roberts said Friday, before the second-half opener against the New York Yankees, that Smith will do nothing baseball-related for at least a week before the club tries to build him back up again.
“To be honest with you, right now, he’s taking at least a week off just really doing no activity to hopefully calm his neck down to then build up,” Roberts said. “Early on, we’ve been trying to get him ready, moving around, doing some baseball stuff, but he hasn’t been able to get over the hump.
“So I think we feel like, no activity, and then we’ll kind of read and react after a week.”
Roberts said the most optimistic path would put Smith back in mid-August, though that sounds like the best-case version of the story rather than the likely one. He added that the team has not ordered any extra testing because there hasn’t been a reason to do so, but he did acknowledge that the cortisone shot not helping is “concerning”.
“Yeah,” Roberts said when asked if it’s concerning. “But I talked to the trainer Thomas [Albert] today, and he said that Will doesn’t feel any pain now. So I do think that now with that, we’re in a much better spot now.”
Even with that update, the Dodgers still don’t have a clean roadmap. Roberts said the club “hope” Smith can get back to baseball activities by the end of next week, “but it’s gonna be a slow ramp up.
So honestly I don’t know what that really looks like right now. It’s hard to say.”
“It just wasn’t recovering,” Roberts said. “It was flaring up, wasn’t recovering. However you want to word it, he didn’t feel like he was making any improvement.”
For now, Dalton Rushing is shouldering more of the catching load in his second season, while Eliezer Alfonzo Jr. is the backup after the Dodgers moved on from Chuckie Robinson. Whether the club adds another catcher before the trade deadline remains an open question.
Smith had played in 52 games before the injury, batting .249 with six home runs, 23 RBIs and an OPS of .720.
Rushing has appeared in 61 games and is hitting .254 with 10 home runs, 30 RBIs and an OPS of .812.
In Other News…
Dodgers May Finally Have The Young Arm This Rotation Needs
With the All-Star break arriving and the Dodgers sitting atop the standings, the front office can afford to think beyond the next series and look for ways to deepen a rotation that has already carried the club through the first half. One name that keeps coming up is River Ryan, the right-hander whose return from a long rehab path has been a patient project for the organization and a reminder of how much upside still sits in the system.
Andrew Friedman has made it clear the club will not rush the process, even with the temptation to add a young arm if Ryan keeps progressing. The Dodgers want the move to matter in the stretch run and beyond, not just for a quick fix, which is why his next steps will be watched closely as he works toward a possible big-league role later this season.
Dodgers Suddenly Face A Veteran Exit And A Bigger Roster Crossroads
The Dodgers pitching depth took another turn this week when a veteran left-hander elected free agency after being designated for assignment to make room for Landon Knack coming off the injured list. It is the kind of roster churn that has become familiar for a club trying to keep enough arms available while also waiting on bigger-picture reinforcements, and it adds another layer to a staff that has spent much of the season juggling roles and health.
Freddie Freeman also offered a reminder that the Dodgers present is still very much the priority, saying he is focused on this season while hoping to get to 20 major league years before even thinking seriously about retirement. Meanwhile, Dave Roberts acknowledged that Eric Lauers place in the rotation picture could change as injured starters work their way back, leaving open the possibility that a pitcher who has helped stabilize the middle of the staff could become part of a deadline conversation before Aug.
Another Contender Could Steal Tarik Skubal From The Dodgers
Tarik Skubal has become one of the most intriguing names on the trade market as the deadline approaches, and the Dodgers have been viewed as a natural fit if Detroit decides to move the reigning ace. The appeal is easy to understand from Los Angeles side: a frontline starter with the kind of arm that can change a postseason series, especially for a club always looking to deepen its rotation for October.
But the Dodgers may not have a clear path to him. Milwaukee and Philadelphia are also positioned to push hard, which could turn this into a more aggressive bidding war than expected, and Skubals looming free agency only adds to the urgency for any contender considering a swing. For the Dodgers, that means a potential difference-maker is still on the board, even if the price and the competition could make the chase far more complicated than it first appeare