{"id":856277,"date":"2026-06-10T00:28:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T00:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/856277\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T00:28:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T00:28:39","slug":"dodgers-catcher-will-smith-out-of-lineup-again-could-be-headed-to-il","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/856277\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers catcher Will Smith out of lineup again, could be headed to IL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PITTSBURGH\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Dodgers<\/a> catcher Will Smith<\/a> was out of the lineup for a third straight game on Tuesday against the Pirates, the stiffness in his neck still lingering. He\u2019ll probably also be sidelined Wednesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow the [injured list] is more of a possibility,\u201d Roberts said, noting that the minimum for positions players is 10 days. \u201cWe\u2019re starting to talk about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teams can backdate IL moves by up to three days. Smith\u2019s neck problem cropped up Saturday, when he was scratched from the Dodgers\u2019 lineup against the Angels. Though Roberts speculated then that Smith could have slept on it awkwardly, he said the cause of the injury is unclear.<\/p>\n

Smith played catch Tuesday, Roberts said, which \u201cwent OK,\u201d but Smith\u2019s neck bothers him the most while swinging.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still a day-to-day situation,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBut for me, just talking to him, talking to the trainers, I would like him to go through a full day [of work] before he plays. So that would probably take [Wednesday] off the table. And then we\u2019ll kind of go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Smith\u2019s absence, 25-year-old Dalton Rushing has started three straight games behind the plate, including his four-hit performance in the series finale against the Angels, and six of the past nine games.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year my whole goal was to make sure, if there\u2019s an opportunity [when] Will needs rest \u2026 make sure that I can provide just as much as he does with the bat as well as behind the plate,\u201d Rushing said Saturday. \u201cThat\u2019s something I\u2019m obviously continuing to work toward. Whatever he needs, I\u2019ll be here. He knows I\u2019ll catch seven days a week. He knows I\u2019ll catch every game if he can\u2019t go back there.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Dodgers were to put Smith on the IL, it\u2019s unclear who would back up Rushing. After releasing Seby Zavala last week, the Dodgers\u2019 triple-A catchers are Eliezer Alfonzo<\/a> and Chuckie Robinson<\/a>, both journeymen with only Robinson having some major-league experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PITTSBURGH\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Dodgers catcher Will Smith was out of the lineup for a third straight game on Tuesday against the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":856278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[2379,113029,2385,2442,349553,5386,42296,1266,135507,51384,26804,4157,62,5611,349554,5618,67,132,68,15613],"class_list":["post-856277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-angels","tag-chuckie-robinson","tag-day","tag-dodgers","tag-dodgers-catcher-will-smith","tag-il","tag-lineup","tag-mlb","tag-neck","tag-plate","tag-roberts","tag-smith","tag-sports","tag-third-straight-game","tag-triple-a-catcher","tag-tuesday","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wednesday"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116722984905634740","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}