SAN DIEGO –– The Dodgers still don’t know when starting catcher Will Smith will return from his neck injury.
Thus, when Shohei Ohtani takes the mound next Wednesday, it will “most likely” be Dalton Rushing behind the plate again, manager Dave Roberts said on Friday.
Typically, managers aren’t asked about battery pairings almost a week away from a pitcher’s next start.
But over the last couple days, the Ohtani-Rushing dynamic has been the leading story around the Dodgers, after the two expressed frustration with one another during a second-inning meltdown in Minnesota this week.
In the wake of that episode –– in which the four-time MVP and second-year backup catcher suffered miscommunication in everything from pitch-calling to ABS challenges to PitchCom mix-up that led to a run-scoring passed ball –– Roberts said there had been “conversations” behind the scenes to ensure “that going forward we’ll all be on the same page.”
“It’s not always going to be synced up, but I think that where it got to the other day, I really don’t see that happening going forward,” Roberts said. “They all care. Everyone cares. Just more of, I got to make sure that we’re all on the same page and they got to do their jobs.”
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This week’s Minnesota game was only the third time Rushing has been behind the plate for an Ohtani start this year. It has happened in each of the two-way star’s previous three outings because Smith continues to battle a lingering neck injury.
What was initially believed to be minor neck pain has now sidelined Smith for three weeks.
On Friday, Roberts said Smith is still not doing any baseball activities, but is “feeling better day-by-day.”
Roberts added that it’s unlikely Smith will be back by the start of next week’s homestand, but still downplayed any long-term concern.
“I think it’s concerning in the sense that it’s a lot longer than we’d expected,” Roberts said. “It’s not concerning because we don’t think it’s a long-term situation.”
