Will Smith will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday, Dodgers manager told The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and other reporters. It will mark the catcher’s first game action since June 5, as an inflamed disc in Smith’s neck has kept the catcher on the injured list for the better part of three months.
Initially just described as “neck inflammation,” more details emerged about Smith’s situation as he spent more time on the sidelines, and the Dodgers moved him from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL about a month ago. While the recovery process has taken longer than expected, Smith has recently started taking live batting practice, which was the final step before being cleared for the rehab assignment.
It’s probably safe to assume Smith will spend at least a week in OKC, as getting re-acclimated to the day-to-day grind of catching may take a bit of extra time. Shohei Ohtani‘s presence means that Los Angeles doesn’t have the flexibility of giving Smith some DH days once he is activated back to the big league roster, but the Dodgers can afford to give Smith some full rest days to ease him back to action if necessary, as the goal is to have Smith ready to go for the playoffs.
Prior to the IL stint, Smith was having a down year by his standards — six homers and a .249/.338/.382 slash line over 201 plate appearances. There’s no reason to think Smith doesn’t have better production ahead of him in September and October, and even this more average version of Smith would bring relief to the Dodgers’ catching situation. Dalton Rushing hit well as Smith’s replacement, but since Rushing also went down to a partial UCL tear in early August, Los Angeles has been using trade deadline pickups Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia as the catching platoon (Eliezer Alfonzo and Chuckie Robinson also got time behind the plate before the deadline).
Smith’s live batting practice session yesterday saw him face pitches thrown by Ohtani, who looks to be nearing a return to the mound. Roberts said that Ohtani may be pitching for the Dodgers before the week is over, and Ardaya and Katie Woo report that the club is considering having Ohtani pitch an inning as an opener in the Dodgers’ game with the Tigers on August 30. A firmer plan may become apparent after Ohtani’s next bullpen session, which is slated to take place at some point during the Dodgers’ upcoming series in Atlanta that begins on Tuesday.
Tyler Glasnow is also expected to be activated from the 60-day IL during that series with the Braves, giving the Dodgers a rotation of Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell, and Roki Sasaki. Ohtani returning in some capacity would allow the Dodgers to return to their preferred six-man rotation, though the amount of health questions within the group makes Eric Lauer an important figure for covering innings.
Lauer has been working as a starter but will be moved into the bullpen for what figures to be more of a piggyback role than a traditional relief assignment. Lauer could be a piggyback pitcher behind Glasnow, Ohtani, or even both depending on how things play out over the next week and throughout September.
Roberts also provided an update on Andy Pages, saying he thought the outfielder underwent a minor surgery to address his fractured left hand. Ardaya writes that Pages indeed had “a compression screw inserted into his left hand to try to speed up the healing process.” Pages was estimated to miss roughly 4-5 weeks of action, and obviously he’d prefer to be on the early side of that timeline in order to be fully healed before the postseason.
Hence then, the article about dodgers notes smith ohtani lauer pages was published today ( ) and is available on MLBtraderumors ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Dodgers Notes: Smith, Ohtani, Lauer, Pages )
Also on site :
- Soul Hitmaker Behind One of the ‘Greatest’ 1974 R&B Chart-Toppers “Let’s Straighten It Out,” Dies at 86
- Hayden Panettiere Appeared ‘Beaten Up’ as Firefighters Transported Her on a Gurney 2 Years Before She Died: Neighbor
- A66 crash: Tributes to five young men and teenagers killed in wrong way collision with Cleveland police car