Mookie Betts Has Greater Appreciation For Will Smith

While the Los Angeles Dodgers have gotten healthier in recent weeks, they remain without Will Smith as he continues to deal with a neck injury.

Smith’s absence has resulted in an extended opportunity for Dalton Rushing, who is going through the highs and lows as the Dodgers starting catcher.

The 25-year-old is thriving from an offensive standpoint, but has hit some bumps in the road while trying to handle the team’s pitching staff. Rushing’s growing pains have given Mookie Betts an even greater appreciation for Smith.

“I took for granted how much he carried for us on the pitching side,” Betts said of Smith on a recent episode of the “On Base With Mookie Betts” podcast.

“Now seeing Rush kind of go through it and seeing how hard it is for him, and how he’s stepping up. He is doing his best. He needs experience. This is his experience and I feel like he’s learning on the fly. He’s getting better. But not having Smitty and seeing what he did for the pitching staff on top of hitting, makes me really appreciate him.

“Will Smith really does do a lot for us.”

As Betts noted, Rushing is making the best of a difficult situation and doing everything he can to provide some stability behind the plate. While he has done a respectable job thus far, Rushing did recently make headlines for not being on the same page as Shohei Ohtani while catching him in a game against the Minnesota Twins.

Rushing was also involved in an on-field incident with Colorado Rockies rookie Cole Carrigg, though both sides chalked that up to a misunderstanding.

When is Will Smith returning?

Smith, who has been sidelined since June 6, recently began hitting and throwing again as he works his way back to the Dodgers.

“He hit [Thursday], so that was good,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I haven’t seen him today to see how he came out, but that was a good thing. And he has been throwing, which I learned when I got back from the road trip.”

Smith still faces a somewhat lengthy process before he can return. The backstop will have to continue taking at-bats in the cages, running the bases, and doing catcher drills before progressing to live at-bats, and then he can start a rehab assignment.

Once Smith goes out on rehab, it will likely be lengthy stint as he will need to build up stamina in order to catch a full nine innings and get enough live at-bats to get his timing and swing back. It is reasonable that Smith could be back with the Dodgers by late July, but it would not be surprising if they slow-play it into early August.