With active rosters expanding to 28 players on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed back Will Smith and several other contributors ahead of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Smith went 1-for-5 with a double and two RBI in the Dodgers’ 13-8 loss at Dodger Stadium. It was his first game at the Major League level in nearly three months because of neck inflammation.
“Felt good. Yeah, felt like I didn’t miss a beat,” Smith said of his return to the Dodgers.
It took a while for the 31-year-old to become pain-free, but he planned to rejoin the Dodgers this season even if his neck didn’t fully heal.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Smith answered when asked if he ever became worried about how long it took his neck to improve. “It was kind of the who knows how long it’s going to take? But there was going to be a point at some point that I was going to be fed up and just kind of deal with it. So yeah.”
When Smith’s neck trouble first arose, he was only expected to miss a game or two. The injury would end up being more serious than the Dodgers initially believed, as the three-time All-Star continued to be bothered by an inflamed disc.
“I mean, it was frustrating early,” Smith admitted. “Just looking for answers why it’s taking longer, but we finally got those answers, and then it was kind of a pretty straightforward process from there. So the last month or two hasn’t been too bad.”
Smith said the turning point in his recovery was simply being patient and letting his neck recover.
“Yeah, just giving it time. It was just an injury that needed time to heal,” Smith said.
Smith wasn’t at his best offensively before the injury, but his presence should help stabilize a Dodgers lineup that recently lost Andy Pages to a fractured left hand. He’s hitting .247/.335/.382 with six doubles, six home runs and 25 RBI in 53 games this season.
Dave Roberts knew Will Smith would return to Dodgers
Manager Dave Roberts echoed Smith and never lost hope that the veteran catcher would return to the Dodgers this year.
“No, no. I actually was optimistic that he’d come back,” Roberts explained. “And even talking to him a little bit tonight before the game, he just said it’s good to feel pain-free. So now it’s just kind of getting him that workload, getting him those at-bats. But I was always hopeful he would be back.”
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