The Los Angeles Dodgers have some of the best catching depth in all of baseball, with Will Smith holding things down at the Major League level and top prospect Dalton Rushing continuing to make strides.
Rushing is coming off an excellent year that saw him hit a combined .270/.383/.501 with 21 doubles, 24 home runs and 82 RBI in 112 games between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City en route to being named the Dodgers’ 2024 Branch Rickey Player of the Year.
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The 24-year-old went on to bat .200/.619/.300 in Cactus League play this spring and now has entered his first full season with Oklahoma City.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts liked what he saw from Rushing behind the plate but thought he pressed a bit offensively.
“Catching, I think, is going great,” Roberts recently said. “He’s doing a good job building into the pitchers and trying to listen to the pitching coaches and learn how Major League pitchers operate and think. He’s a smart kid. I think in the batter’s box, he’s trying a little too hard right now.
“He might have went 0-for the spring last year and had a good year offensively. So I do think that here he’s trying a little bit too hard. I would just kind of want him to trust his ability in the box, because he’s special in the batter’s box.”
Through three games with the Comets, Rushing is hitting .273/.357/.546 with one home run and two RBI in 14 plate appearances.
He went into the 2025 season as Keith Law’s No. 16 ranked prospect and the second-best catcher by MLB Pipeline.
Dodgers have Dalton Rushing focused on catcher position
Rushing’s rise through the Dodgers farm system was accompanied by beginning to play some first base and left field. Upon joining Oklahoma City last season, Rushing exclusively played left field.
But now the top Dodgers prospect is focusing on catching, which is where the expectation is he would reach the Majors this year.
“I would see if he factors in this year, I would say would be behind the plate,” Roberts said.
“I do think that with Feddy (Hunter Feduccia), (Griffin) Lockwood-Powell, obviously Chris Okey, we’ve got a lot of good depth, but obviously Rushing is a guy that we’re looking toward in the future.
“So that’s probably where I would see it. Last year we did a little left field. I don’t see that kind of playing out this year.”
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