LOS ANGELES \u2014 The Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed back starting catcher Will Smith, backup Dalton Rushing and pitcher Justin Wrobleski from the injured list Tuesday, bolstering their bench for the final month of the season.<\/p>\n
Smith had been out since June 6 with a neck injury. Rushing was sidelined since Aug. 3 with a right arm injury. Wrobleski had been out because of left forearm inflammation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve got a lot of the bases covered,\u201d manager Dave Roberts said. \u201cNow, the guys that essentially play every day need to just perform.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the next steps for Shohei Ohtani’s potential return to the mound could come soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do think that there’s going to be a conversation that needs to be had this week about what the outlook is, and we haven\u2019t had it yet,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n
Ohtani hasn’t pitched since early July because of continued issues with his left knee and right biceps. At the same time, his offensive production has nosedived, along with much of the starting lineup.<\/p>\n
Closer Edwin D\u00edaz likely will throw another live session and then go on a rehab assignment.<\/p>\n
Before getting hurt, Smith batted .249 with six home runs and 23 RBIs in 52 games. The three-time All-Star made five rehab starts at Triple-A Oklahoma City, batting .250 with two doubles and one homer.<\/p>\n
Smith was in the starting lineup and set to bat fifth in the series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday. He’ll start two of the three games in the series.<\/p>\n
Rushing appeared in a career-high 74 games, hitting .253 with 12 homers and 36 RBI before his injury. He’ll be used as a pinch-hitter as he continues progressing from the injury, a role the 25-year-old has rarely been in.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll be prepared and it is my job to get him repetitions to see how it looks and get him used to coming off the bench,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI also think he\u2019s a threat. He can hit the ball out of the ballpark. He can take a walk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts said he’s hopeful but not totally convinced that Rushing will catch before the postseason begins.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would be just great if we can get him there,\u201d the manager said. \u201cI like where his head is at though. He\u2019s working hard to kind of get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wrobleski made one rehab appearance with Oklahoma City, allowing one run and striking out two in 1 1\/3 innings. The All-Star left-hander is 11-5 with a 3.56 ERA this season. He’ll now work out of the bullpen.<\/p>\n
Infielder Alex Freeland was added to the active roster. To make room, outfielder Alek Thomas was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City while catcher Ben Rortvedt was designated for assignment.<\/p>\n
Freeland returns for his third stint in LA this season. He played in 72 games, hitting .231 with three home runs and 19 RBIs. In the minors, he had five homers and 26 RBIs in 38 games.<\/p>\n
Freeland was in the starting lineup at second base and was set to bat ninth against the Cardinals.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood defender, he\u2019s performing fine and I think it was just more familiarity,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cHe knows what it\u2019s like to be here. Obviously the season\u2019s not over, so there are things that could happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 The Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed back starting catcher Will Smith, backup Dalton Rushing and pitcher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":880324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[49,48,82],"class_list":["post-880323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}