Will Smith has been one of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ most consistent hitters this season and continues to build on a career year at the plate.
The 30-year-old enters play Wednesday batting .308/.415/.511 with 19 doubles, 15 home runs and 54 RBI in 393 plate appearances across 98 games.
Most notably, Smith’s .308 batting average is ahead of the Miami Marlins’ Xavier Edwards (.304) for best in the National League. Not far behind them is Freddie Freeman, who is batting .302 and ranks third.
Given the race for the NL batting title, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts guaranteed Smith will have enough plate appearances by the end of the season to qualify despite the team’s strategy of providing him with rest, via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times:
“He’s going to qualify. No matter what, I’ll make sure of that,” Roberts said. “I’m going to make sure he gets enough at-bats.”
In order to qualify for a batting title, a player must average 3.1 plate appearances per game. That means Smith would need to finish with at least 502 plate appearances in order to be eligible.
With only 36 games left on the Dodgers’ regular-season schedule, Smith would need to average roughly 3.1 plate appearances per contest from this point forward to continue qualifying for the NL batting title.
While the Dodgers have prioritized rest for Smith to ensure he remains effective down the stretch and into the postseason, it sounds like they won’t stand in the way of the three-time All-Star potentially making MLB history.
Will Smith winning NL batting title would be rare feat
Smith is looking to become the first Dodgers catcher and just the fourth backstop in MLB history to win a batting title.
The only other players who have done so are Bubbles Hargrave (1926), Ernie Lombardi (1938 and 1942), Joe Mauer (2006, 2008 and 2009), and Buster Posey (2012).
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