{"id":722695,"date":"2026-06-10T22:42:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T22:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/722695\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T22:42:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T22:42:29","slug":"dodgers-reveal-catcher-plans-after-will-smith-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/722695\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers Reveal Catcher Plans After Will Smith Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Los Angeles Dodgers are facing a conundrum with the expected move of starting catcher Will Smith to the injured list, and the team started to take action on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Smith, who\u2019s suffering from a neck injury, is \u201cmost likely\u201d headed to the injured list, manager Dave Roberts said, as reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByJackHarris\/status\/2064810095058239539\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Jack Harris of the California Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With that move expected to come Thursday, the Dodgers are already preparing add a catcher, as outside of Smith, Dalton Rushing is the only catcher on the roster. Infield utility player <a href=\"https:\/\/dodgersnation.com\/dodgers-release-infielder-to-open-up-a-roster-spot-amid-will-smith-injury\/2026\/06\/10\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Tyler Fitzgerald was released on Wednesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2539\" height=\"1693\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/USATSI_19135459_168396005_lowres.jpg\" alt=\"Sep 28, 2022; San Diego, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith (16) throws to first base on a ground out by San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar (not pictured) during the fourth inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports\" class=\"wp-image-170112\"  \/>Sep 28, 2022; San Diego, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith (16) throws to first base on a ground out by San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar (not pictured) during the fourth inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roberts also disclosed to Harris that the new catcher will likely be starting as soon as Friday, as reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/billplunkettocr\/status\/2064810358347358710\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDalton Rushing will catch all 3 games in Pittsburgh,\u201d Plunkett reported. \u201cWhoever gets called up will start Friday in Chicago. Will Smith available in emergency but that would kill back dating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Who will the Dodgers call up?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The team\u2019s Triple-A affiliate, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.milb.com\/oklahoma-city\/transactions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Oklahoma City Comets, recently released catcher Seby Zavala<\/a>, leaving two options: Eliezer Alfonzo and Chuckie Robinson.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/USATSI_27092561.jpg\" alt=\"Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images\" class=\"wp-image-294642\"  \/>Sep 15, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Chuckie Robinson (52) runs toward first base after a bunt against the Philadelphia Phillies in the third inning at Dodger Stadium.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Alfonzo has played the majority of games for the Comets so far this year, Robinson has big-league experience, notching 52 games over the course of his career, including <a href=\"https:\/\/dodgersnation.com\/dodgers-bring-back-former-catcher-on-minor-league-deal\/2025\/12\/24\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">an appearance for the Dodgers last season<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dodgers Nation\u2019s Aaron Coloma broke down the decision between Alfonzo and Robinson as choosing between experience and offense.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Dodgers value getting younger players consistent reps as well, so they may look towards Robinson for that reason,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIf they want offensive production, though, Alfonzo may be the way to go given his performance this season and Robinson\u2019s past numbers in the bigs. Over his 52 games, Robinson has a .361 OPS in MLB.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the minors, though, Robinson\u2019s OPS is .763 this season, which is slightly edged out by Alfonzo\u2019s .781 OPS.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Who would you like the Dodgers to call up?<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sab-icon\" src=\"https:\/\/dodgersnation.com\/path\/to\/app-icon.png\" alt=\"App icon\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\"\/><\/p>\n<p>LA Baseball Report<\/p>\n<p>Get the app for faster news<\/p>\n<p> <a id=\"sab-cta\" class=\"sab-cta\" href=\"#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">GET<\/a> \u00d7  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Dodgers are facing a conundrum with the expected move of starting catcher Will Smith to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,16960,1560,39,59440,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4,1535],"class_list":["post-722695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-baseball","tag-chuckie-robinson","tag-dave-roberts","tag-dodgers","tag-eliezer-alfonzo","tag-la","tag-la-dodgers","tag-ladodgers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesdodgers","tag-mlb","tag-will-smith"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116728230529182332","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}