The Los Angeles Dodgers reunited with both Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia at the trade deadline due to Will Smith and Dalton Rushing being unavailable because of respective injuries, and now that depth may loom particularly large.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed during an interview with David Vassegh on AM 570 L.A. Sports that an MRI on Rushing’s ailing right elbow revealed a small tear in his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL).
“Obviously with the news of Dalton having a slightly torn UCL, we’re going to keep the hitting going. He’s going to be a slow program with the throwing. Don’t know what that looks like through the rest of the season and throughout the postseason.
“Fortunately, it happened the day before the trade deadline. So here we are the day after, we’re looking at two new catchers. Thankfully, we had Rortvedt last year and he caught in some postseason games. We had Feduccia last year and the years prior, so there’s a lot of familiarity. So we certainly raised the floor on the catching.”
Rushing’s elbow injury first surfaced on Sunday when he was a late scratch from the lineup due to “minor arm irritation.” He did not travel with the Dodgers for their road trip and general manager Brandon Gomes said he was poised to meet with doctors to determine the severity of his injury.
The Dodgers put Rushing on the 10-day injured list Monday and called up Chuckie Robinson. However, Robinson was then designated for assignment as one of the moves to the Dodgers adding Rortvedt and Feduccia to their roster.
What’s next for Dalton Rushing?
According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, Roberts expanded on his initial comments to explain Rushing won’t be throwing for for the foreseeable future and the hope is he can avoid right elbow surgery.
Following up on what Dave Roberts said to @THEREAL_DV: MRI results revealed a UCL tear for Dalton Rushing. The hope is he can avoid surgery, but he’ll be shut down/no throw for at least a few weeks. If he does return this season, it’s unclear if he’ll be limited to hitting only.
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) August 5, 2026
During his time as the starting catcher, Rushing has hit .244/.314/.384 with nine doubles, five home runs, 18 RBI and a 112 wRC+ over 41 games.
While his timeline for a potential return, even if in a limited capacity, is unclear, Smith’s latest progression has him roughly three weeks away from being in position to come off the 60-day injured list.
In the meantime, the Dodgers are going to rely on Rortvedt as the starting catcher and have Feduccia filling the backup role.
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