The Los Angeles Dodgers suffered an injury scare on Wednesday as Will Smith exited the game early against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Smith came out in the third inning, when Dalton Rushing pinch-hit for him. The veteran backstop took a foul ball off his right hand in the bottom of the second inning.
The Dodgers announced Smith was removed due to suffering a right-hand contusion. After additional testing, the Dodgers received the best case scenario for Smith, but he’s day-to-day for the time being, manager Dave Roberts said on SportsNet LA:
“From what I understand, he’s sore. There’s some swelling, got an X-ray. X-ray is negative, so that’s a positive. Day-to-day, but yeah, it’s going to be hard to imagine him in there [Thursday].”
With Smith avoiding a more serious injury, when he gets back in the lineup is likely going to be about pain tolerance and swelling in his hand.
Smith entered Wednesday batting .297/.406/.499 with 19 doubles, 17 home runs and 61 RBI. He went 0-for-1 in his lone plate appearance before exiting.
Smith has been in the mist of a slump in the second half of the season, but has picked things up over the last few games.
Dodgers making roster move with Will Smith?
The Dodgers are likely to add Ben Rortvedt to their taxi squad on Thursday, just in case Smith doesn’t show improvement, and they decide to make a roster move.
The Dodgers acquired Rortvedt at the trade deadline in their deal that sent Hunter Feduccia to the Tampa Bay Rays. The veteran catcher has solid defensive abilities, but his offense leaves a lot to be desired.
If Smith is to miss some time, Rushing would get the majority of reps behind the plate.
The Dodgers could add Rortvedt while keeping both catchers active, if they don’t want to lose Smith for at least 10 days on the injured list.
In that scenario, the Dodgers would have to option one of their additional bench bats, such as Justin Dean, or one of the pitchers.
The Dodgers also have seven games before an off day, so playing with just one catcher on the roster would be problematic.
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