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Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith is suffering from neck stiffness, leading to his absence from Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels.
Smith was in the lineup order initially until being scratched and replaced by catcher Dalton Rushing.
“It came out of nowhere,” Roberts said before the game. “I had him in there today and then talked to [trainer] Thomas Albert and he said that Will’s kind of grinding through a neck situation. … I think a bad night’s sleep or a bad pillow. Not sure.”
Smith has been starting to figure things out at the plate, looking more confident in his swing and making better decisions.
He is the No. 1 choice for the Dodgers despite the emergence of Rushing, a young hotshot who is able to hit for power both in terms of home runs and gap hits.
Rushing is one of the many luxuries the Dodgers have, stemming from player development and prospect retention rather than spending in free agency.
His emergence allowed the Dodgers to comfortably sit Smith without feeling much concern.
“We could have probably pushed him to play [Saturday], but he was going to play two out of three regardless,” Roberts said.
“And so it’s nice that you can tap [Rushing] on the shoulder and give him the knock.”
While he was more known as a bat early on in his career, Rushing has proven to be quite the catcher, improving his ability to reliably call a game for a hurler.
“Dalton’s in the pitchers’ meetings. He and Will have a really good relationship, which I love. The pitchers, we’ve done a good job in sharing the load,” Roberts said of Rushing’s preparation behind the dish.
“So now, it’s more seamless when he has to catch Yama. I think the game has slowed down much more for Dalton.”
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