Dalton Rushing got his chance to earn some time in the big leagues in 2025, serving as the understudy to Will Smith after the Dodgers released Austin Barnes and platooning with Ben Rortvedt while Smith dealt with a hand injury.

Rushing was ranked as the Dodgers’ no. 1 prospect entering the 2025 season, and it wasn’t a matter of if he would make his big league debut, it was a matter of when. Austin Barnes had been the Dodgers’ go-to back-up catcher behind the likes of Yasmani Grandal and Will Smith since 2017, but an underwhelming start to the season prompted the Dodgers to designate him for assignment on May 14, opening the door for Rushing to take his place.

Rushing made his big league debut during the Dodgers’ 19-2 romp of the Athletics on May 15, registering his first hit with a single up the middle and finishing the game going 2-4 with a walk and three runs scored. His first big league home run also came in another Dodgers slugfest, this time doing so against position player Pablo Reyes in an 18-2 win over the New York Yankees.

Rushing continued to serve as Smith’s back-up over the next three months of the season, getting the occasional start as a means to conserve Smith’s health and productivity heading into the postseason. After a nice first sample of games in May to begin his career, Rushing struggled to adapt to major league pitching throughout the middle of the season, as he slashed just .163/.233/.250 over his next 35 games with a pair of home runs and 14 RBI, striking out 37 times and walking eight times over 103 plate appearances.

The Dodgers catching depth suffered quite the blow when Will Smith took a foul ball off the bat of Nick Gonzales of the Pittsburgh Pirates to his right hand, and he would miss the remainder of the regular season. Both Rushing and recent trade acquisition Ben Rortvedt served in a platoon role to close the season, and Rushing performed well in Smith’s absence, slashing .268/.310/.464 with a home run and three RBI over his final 11 games. Rushing served as the back-up to Rortvedt during the Wild Card series against the Cincinnati Reds and once Will Smith returned for the NLDS, Rushing saw barely any playing time, only receiving one at-bat in a Game 3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.

There were some visible growing pains for Rushing, as among the 13 Dodgers hitters with at least 100 regular season plate appearances, his 37.4 strikeout percent and his 62 wRC+ both ranked as worst on the team. There are still facets to his game to be excited about for the future, as he posted above league average rates for average exit velocity, barrel rate, launch angle sweet-spot percentage, and ranked fourth on the Dodgers in chase rate behind Will Smith, Alex Freeland and Alex Call at just 19.6 percent.

Stats: .204/..258/.324, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 5 2B, 15 R, 62 wRC+, 0.2 rWAR, -0.1 fWAR; Postseason: 0-1, K

Rushing had six multi-hit games during the regular season, and his best performance came in a 13-7 win over the Washington Nationals on June 22, reaching base in every plate appearance and finishing the game going 2-2 with a double, two walks, and three runs scored.

Dalton Rushing has 136 days of big league service time and is on the Dodgers 40-man roster.