Dalton Rushing Diagnosed With Partial UCL Tear

Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing has a partial tear of the UCL in his right elbow, manager Dave Roberts tells David Vassegh of the Dodger Talk podcast. The second-year backstop landed on the 10-day injured list yesterday with what the team initially called elbow inflammation.

Roberts said postgame that Rushing will continue to hit but is being shut down from throwing (link via Jack Harris of The California Post). That could last as long as 4-6 weeks and potentially threaten his ability to throw for the remainder of the season. Catching suddenly looks like a significant question mark for the Dodgers as they prepare for October. Will Smith is on the 60-day injured list with a lingering neck issue, though he has resumed baseball activities (via the MLB.com injury tracker).

The Dodgers acquired their new catching duo of Hunter Feduccia and Ben Rortvedt at the deadline. It’s not a coincidence that both players were previously in the organization and should have a quicker adjustment period in familiarizing themselves with the pitching staff. Feduccia was hitting .234/.306/.340 across 160 plate appearances with the Rays. Rortvedt made his first big league appearance of the season tonight after hitting .234/.319/.414 in Triple-A with the Mets.

Los Angeles has the NL West well in hand. However, their ongoing five-game losing skid and a six-game win streak from the Braves have closed the gap at the top of the National League. The Dodgers are now a game and a half behind the Brewers for the NL’s top seed and (more importantly) just a half-game up on Atlanta for the #2 seed and associated first-round bye. All three of those are much better than whoever secures the last Wild Card spot, of course, but any three-game series at the MLB level could go either way. Avoiding the Wild Card round raises a team’s World Series odds significantly.

Smith should be back well before the postseason to take the starting catching role. If Rushing is still unable to throw by then, the Dodgers would need to carry a third catcher on their playoff rosters. Rushing isn’t going to see any DH time in the playoffs barring an injury to Shohei Ohtani. He’d essentially be limited to pinch-hit duties, though he’d still provide a potent left-handed bat when Roberts calls upon him. Rushing is hitting .253/.335/.475 with 12 homers over 245 plate appearances.